Your blogger happened upon this fascinating website that tells stories through maps.

Recently, esri looked at the biggest malls in the United States by square footage, and, you guessed it, the Mall of America in Bloomington is still the biggest in the land. By far.

The 4.2 million square-foot megamall beat its nearest competitor – the Eastwood Mall in Niles, Ohio, by more than a million square feet. Plus, the MOA has three times as many stores (420 to be exact) as the Ohio runner-up.

The website features aerial maps of the malls -- the top 10 of which are shockingly similar when viewed from the air. That is, a large building surrounded by a sea of surface parking. (Except Houston's Galleria.)

Janet Moore covers commercial real estate for the Star Tribune.