Reimagining Cities-Disrupting the Urban Doom Loop

institutions. 87 The rapid return of foot traffic to Downtown WalkUPs at the tail end of the pandemic was due to visitors, who have a much lower commitment to the place compared to residents and workers, who must sign leases, buy homes or resume daily commutes. As shown in the Downtowns Rebound report, the three cities that led in overall foot traffic recovery— Nashville, San Jose and San Diego—were among the cities with the highest share of daily visitors downtown in 2019. 88 Our analysis of 15 cities found a similar trend: the higher the share of foot traffic from visitors in 2019, the more recovered total foot traffic was in 2023. In essence, visitors have played, and continue to play, a critical role in lifting cities out of the economic downturn of the pandemic. A shift toward becoming more of an experience-based consumption center— rather than a production center—ties all of this together. 89 Destination retail, culture,

87 Niemuth, Jon. “The Future of Sports Venues Is About Creating Vibrant, Multiuse Districts.” Gensler, 2023. 88 Downtowns Rebound. 89 Florida, Richard. The Rise of the Creative Class: And How It’s Transforming Work, Leisure, Community and Everyday Life. Basic Books, 2002.

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