Downtowns are dead, dying or on life support, says expert with over 50 years of researching urban policy

Fortune ^ | 9/25/23 | John Rennie Short and The Conversation

[DallasBiff]

The hollowing out of U.S. cities’ office and commercial cores is a national trend with serious consequences for millions of Americans. As more people have stayed home following the COVID-19 pandemic, foot traffic has fallen. Major retail chains are closing stores, and even prestigious properties are having a hard time retaining tenants.

The shuttering of a Whole Foods market after only a year in downtown San Francisco in May 2023 received widespread coverage. Even more telling was the high-end department store Nordstrom’s decision to close its flagship store there in August after a 35-year run.

In New York City, office vacancy rates have risen by over 70% since 2019. Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, a stretch of high-end shops and restaurants, had a 26% vacancy rate in spring 2023.

[DallasBiff]

I know an article from almost 2 years ago, but growing up in the 60's and 70's taking the bus going downtown was a big thing.

Big department stores, restaurants, and news stands.

Malls were the death knell of downtowns, then came the internet which was the death knell of malls.

I know nostalgic and melancholy.

[dfwgator]

Neiman-Marcus in Dallas is closing.

[ClearCase_guy]

I stay away from the cities because of the crime and the feeling that law enforcement would more likely arrest me for defending myself than they would be to arrest the young gentleman assaulting me.

[Noumenon]

Feral Negroes have a lot to do with it.

[Big Red Badger]

Prescott is losing a Del Taco.

[RoosterRedux]

Downtowns are dead, dying or on life support

Thank you, Democrats.

[clee1]

Nothing, and I mean nothing... lasts forever. Including nuclear waste.

[PGR88]

John Rennie Short is Professor Emeritus of Public Policy, University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

Fitting that the author quoted Karl Marx

Public Policy Profs and Urban Planners, are almost by definition, Marxist. They never blame government or central planning, its always the generic bogeyman "capitalism's" fault

[clee1]

💯%

[sjmjax]

Petula Clark - very disappointed….

Find it sad to listen to songs like her “Downtown” and think how much our lifestyles and culture has changed.

[stanne]

Because of foot traffic in SF from 2 years ago?

Lat time I was in Neumann Marcus - very recently- a saw a shirt for $1,000

Went to Chanel, there was a city cop assigned to the Chanel boutique where everything is locked down. And not a mall cop

[Red Badger]

Petula Clark is deeply saddened.................

[sit-rep]

well that is what happens when you get a concentration of a certain demographic... now they are all pushed out into the burbs and the evidence they are here is the colossal amount of road side litter we see every day...

[Red Badger]

GMTA!....................

[Alberta's Child]

COVID and the dystopian fiasco that came with it was the death knell of downtowns.

[MtnClimber]

The democRAT cities are handing power over to the Minority Urban Youths (MUY) Credit to Matt Bracken (TravisMcgee). Under the marxist vision, “the worse the better” as chaos will cause demand for more government control. It is a scam and you are the loser.

[DownInFlames]

Yep. Downtown is now associated with feral blacks who have no regard for life or property. Democrats constantly hinder in the redevelopment by allowing crime to flourish. St. Louis just held primaries and no republican candidates were ever mentioned. Just democrats promising the same thing and delivering zilch.

[Bernard]

"Downtown" is not dying in a vacuum.

"Education" is not failing in a vacuum.

"Gun Violence" is not a problem in a vacuum.

We have gone from "The Love That Dare Not Say Its Name" to "The Underlying Problem That Dare Not Be Spoken"

[mewzilla]

High property taxes, utility rates, minimum wage hikes...

Need to figure those in, too...

[MNDude]

in the 1960s, Arthur C Clarke predicted this would happen