A while ago I saw someone mention that Worcester needs to be more walkable, which would really benefit these retail shops. I completely agree — but have no idea how that idea comes to fruition in a city like Worcester where basically everyone drives. My first thought would be filling in “the gaps”. For instance, walking from Culpepper’s on Cambridge st. to Polar Park seems doable for me (an adult male) but it’s not necessarily inviting given the little pockets of nothingness in between. And if I were a female I wouldn’t do it (sadly) especially at night. Fill in those gaps between the outskirts of the city and downtown with shops/restaurants and basically more people and it feels safer. I’m sure zoning would have to be tampered with a bit to make this happen. Fingers crossed because I would love to see this trend reverse. Covid, inflation & the looming recession isn’t helping anything either :(