[pesto]

Some here are still thinking backwards: blame the people who don't shop DT and the "slumlords". The people left because the suburban centers made it easy to shop there, while DT clung to an old image of what shopping should be like.

The slumlords don't want to be slumlords: half the buildings are EMPTY or so near that they might as well be. The only rented parts are 200 sq. ft. facing the sidewalk on the 1st floor; the rest are often either storage or, more likely, just plain empty.

The slumlords would love for the area to be Rodeo or SaMo, but it isn't. Efforts to have quality retail DT started failing 60 years ago and collapsed completely maybe 50 years ago. With zero demand for enormous empty buildings, prices dropped and lower price renters moved in. Reality speaks for itself: the only lessees were retailers and service providers to the bottom end of the market. Why would this area look like anything other than Tijuana?

As we know, this is now changing. With some hope of recouping their investments, "slumlords" are improving their buildings, especially off of Bway. On Bway, it is a slower process because the old "down" model is still viable. It's caught between those who are doing fine with Fallas Paredes and those would love to charge higher rents for trendy clubs, with rented space above them, but aren't getting enough demand due to Fallas Paredes.