Also, there is no public transit in a lot of America. You drive your car to a mall that might be a good distance away in a lot of the country, so you need the v

Also, there is no public transit in a lot of America. You drive your car to a mall that might be a good distance away in a lot of the country, so you need the vast parking areas. Or you did, before online shopping, pandemic, etc. On "main streets" in many towns, there have been apartments above stores since the beginning of the towns, and still are in many cases. Malls came about as a result of sprawling suburbs.