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Shoppers are sipping hot cocoa in Union Square. Tourists are lining up at the cable car turnaround on Powell Street. Crime rates have plummeted. The vibes are good, and it’s almost as if San Francisco’s downtown is back. Just don’t look too closely at the data, or the nearly vacant mall down on Market Street.
Newly released citywide figures show promising increases in foot traffic from earlier this year have tapered off, and new business registrations have crashed. And the once-humming San Francisco Centre is virtually empty.
Work-from-home culture, waves of layoffs and shifts to online shopping have continued to challenge once-bustling corridors. From Nordstrom to Disney and The North Face, many major companies have shuttered stores in and around Powell Street. The trends paint a complicated picture for San Francisco’s downtown, as well as the massive mall, which is now up for sale…