It's a large strip mall.
You have to drive to stores because if you need something on one end of the 'mall' you're not going to want to walk across the huge surface of blacktop to the other side.
But more importantly...what I seriously don't get. People congregate at this mall on Fri/Sat night like it's a club.
You're shopping, or you've seen a movie, you walk into the main section of the mall--down by the movie theater and suddenly you've walked into a drinking and smoking, obnoxious mob of 30something party people. Wtf? Are the bar options in Tempe so bad that a mall-restaurant/bar is as good as it gets?
Oh straight people, I adore your quirks!!