[J. Will]

Way too much emphasis is put by SSPers on immediate population. I doubt Houston, Phoenix, or Jacksonville had many more people living downtown 50-60 years ago than they do now, yet they all had FAR more retail than they do now. Jacksonville in particular had huge amounts of retail for such a small metro area. They could support it because the downtown was a destination. How many people live within walking distance of the typical large American mall?

Stuff like dry cleaners and convenience stores depends on population within walking distance. For things like dept. stores that is really not relevant. They need to draw from a huge population anyways.