When I was doing my mall walking, I never hit Southridge. In part that’s because the southside mall isn’t very close to my northside home.

It’s also because I wasn’t really sure Southridge even had an inside anymore. The mall has put most of its focus on the shops with their own entrances, leaving the interior of the mall to wither quite a bit.

For instance, did you know Southridge is home to two colleges? Most probably knew about DMACC, but Bellevue University is also located there. Surprisingly, it’s not a for-profit college. I was expecting it to be a University of Phoenix kind of place.

I wonder of the two schools ever have mixers, or if wearing a certain college sweater will get you hazed if you wander into wrong part of the mall.

The mall is also home to two churches. Colleges and churches, what a strange new mall world we’re living in.

I was excited to see an arcade. Once upon a time they were mall staples, but now I don’t remember the last time I saw one. It didn’t seem like a great arcade; small and with no games that enticed me to stop in. Surprisingly, it opens before the other shops, so you can go for early morning Big Buck Hunter action.

I did find that vending machines have 20 ounce sodas for $1.25. That’s a pretty good deal.

As a walking destination, Southridge isn’t great. It’s all one level, with no stairs or inclines to mix things up. Two laps were .88 miles. Walking around the outside of the mall would no doubt have gotten me more distance, and potentially better views (it is as the junction of SE 14th and Army Post, so it’s not especially scenic).

I’ll stick to the other malls when I need to walk inside. For added fun, you can check out the Southridge Facebook page. Have you ever been curious who a mall thought was best dressed at the Billboard Music Awards (Ciara) or their favorite museum (the Louvre). You might be surprised to find out Southridge has a fondness for sangria, or that the mall was recently watching “Creed.”

Holy crap, I may need to start following this mall. It’s sentience is pretty entertaining.