Commenter Deirdre notes there is one area where downtown is thriving:
One business that seems to have launched itself spectacularly is the frozen dessert phenomenon on Shattuck. First Gaia, then Milano Gelato (now called something else, I believe). Then Tully’s introduced its ice cream cones. Then the $1 John’s Ice Cream place got going (always a line after BHS lets out….) And now: the march of the frozen yoghurt stores. There’s at least two on Shattuck and I think a third is coming. It ain’t exactly skilled blue collar manufacturing jobs, but anything that fills a store front on Shattuck is good by me. And I do loves me my fro-yo.
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I walk to the downtown library a couple times a week. On occasion if my wife was out and about I would ask her for a ride back home and almost always there would be trepidation over getting stuck in downtown traffic (she’s a relatively new driver).
Ever since Gaia opened, however, I’m getting voluntary offers of pick-up