Nothing seems to work.
Now here's another idea cities are trying. It's a retailing model lots of merchants and municipalities are trying. The model these towns are trying to emulate is Snohomish, which in the last 20 years has transformed itself from an aging town, not quite on the way to anywhere, to a regional shopping destination with hundreds of dealers whose outlets range from the size of a single display case to an entire store. On weekend afternoons, the sidewalks of First Street are crowded with people wandering in and out of the stores, stopping for lunch and no doubt pumping money into the local economy. Vacancies in commercial buildings downtown are hard to find.