I work downtown, right around the corner from 145 Front st. and the Grid. Neither residential complex seems to add noticeable weekday foot traffic.

We lost some good lunch options to Covid and inflation has definitely impacted the ones that are still kicking. Not everyone has $15-20 to spend on lunch. And people would probably be more inclined to spend time and money downtown if there were actual stores (e.g., a gift store that isn’t Worcester-centric, toy store, small market, city Target, whatever).

Also, for all of the “walkability” improvements, Main st. and the surrounding streets are still majorly oriented to car traffic. Things might appear close on a map, but it’s deceiving because you wind up stuck waiting 2-5 minutes at every single intersection for a walk light. And you’re walking past ugly parking lots and empty buildings, so even a short walk feels like it takes longer than it should. (Speaking as someone who used to walk a lot more when working/living in Boston.)