Ever wondered how your favorite shopping mall rates or whether there might be a much nicer one within a few minutes of where you're going now?  Scott Parsons of the BIGMallRat Guide to Shopping Malls has a solution.

His site focuses on Northern California and Reno, Nevada and rates some of the biggest shopping malls in and around the San Jose area.  He brings us this beautiful picture of the Stanford Shopping Center courtyard in Palo Alto to the right.

There's no surprise Santana Row (it's more urban experience than pure shopping mall) and Valley Fair get 10 out of 10 ratings and there's also strong coverage of malls in the East Bay, including the 10 out of 10 rated Stoneridge Shopping Mall, Walnut Creek's upscale Broadway Plaza, and the Fremont Hub --- which didn't fare so well in the ratings!

Recommended Reading:

• Top Silicon Valley Shopping Malls
• Downtown Sunnyvale Revitalization Gets Desperately Needed Kickstart
• Goodbye Vallco, Hello Cupertino Square
• Santana Row: Silicon Valley's Urban Oasis