Soto grew up in Stratford, Connecticut and graduated from Eastern Connecticut State University.

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Muchnick played on the football and lacrosse teams at Staples High School and went on to play lacrosse at Eastern Connecticut State University, where he studied business.

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"It's almost unimaginable, the boom that has occurred in these Eastern cities, " says Emil Pocock, a professor at Eastern Connecticut State University, whose American Studies department has documented the sizes and amenities of the world's largest malls.

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