The Secret To Saving America’s Downtowns

A Tale of Two Cities

Two distinct scenarios are playing out in downtown city centers across America.

Downtown areas that mainly consist of office buildings are struggling to regain foot traffic. According to data collected by the University of Toronto, in the office-centric cities of Portland, San Francisco, and Cleveland, foot traffic remains at 40% of pre-pandemic levels or below.

The cities where foot traffic is surging all have one thing in common: downtowns with plenty of other amenities. These include residential communities, green space, restaurants, safe and reliable public transit, and fun attractions. Salt Lake City, Bakersfield, and Fresno — cities with diverse downtown areas — have seen foot traffic return to and even surpass pre-pandemic levels.

You Can Always Go…

Downtowns are typically the beating economic heart of a city, funneling revenue via taxes and more. Downtown areas often contain most of a city’s businesses, financial institutions, government offices, and other important services. These entities generate significant amounts of revenue for local governments through taxes on their activities as well as fees from services such as permits or licenses.

Downtowns also attract people from all over the area who come to shop and dine, providing additional tax income to municipalities through sales taxes on their purchases. ​​

Redesigning Downtown

As cities around the world continue to grapple with the economic and social repercussions of the pandemic, many are turning their eyes to their downtowns. It’s become increasingly clear that cities that have invested in diverse downtowns, offering a healthy mixture of office space, housing, attractions, and so on, are faring much better than those who haven’t.

​​The fact that several cities with diverse downtowns have been able prove so resilient despite global economic downturn is indeed encouraging news — though we must remember that this success didn’t happen overnight: Years of planning went into creating these vibrant urban centers before they became what they are today.

If more municipalities followed suit in investing in their own unique brand of urbanity – complete with a mix of shops, restaurants, offices, and residences – there could be hope yet that America’s downtown areas could thrive once again.

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