It's an important factor for industrial, commercial and professional recruitment. Downtown serves as a good incubator for new small business - the success of tomorrow. Strips and Malls are often too expensive for new entrepreneurs. Lower rents make downtown a good location. It helps reduce sprawl by concentrating activity in one area.
Downtown is a major employer.
Often when you count the number of jobs in a community you will find that downtown is the largest employer. The infrastructure downtown is a major public investment. Only healthy businesses in buildings assessed at full value generate taxes the give taxpayers a return on this public investment. Vacant storefronts in a downtown area actually cost the community money. A revitalized downtown protects property values in surrounding residential neighborhoods.