[Private Dick]

This is a weird and misleading title for the article. It is about Florida downtowns, in particular... which are far from typical downtowns.

Florida downtowns have not "failed" because they actually have yet to succeed -- in the way the author is describing.

Florida downtowns do not have to "come back" because they have nothing to come back from. They've never been "there"... at least not in the classic downtown sense.

They are newer places that have never been the neighborhoods and massive centers of activity that characterize traditional US downtowns.

Florida really developed with the advent of the automobile and air conditioning... and the suburban lifestyle. It takes a long time and a lot of effort to alter suburban lifestyles in favor of a "downtown lifestyle" -- especially when that type of lifestyle never existed there to begin with.

Florida cities that I am more familiar with (Miami/Ft. Lauderdale area, Sarasota, Tampa/St. Pete, Orlando) are doing just fine on this matter overall... better than many older urban centers because there is much more investment in Florida. It just takes time to reverse what was basically a backwards development scheme. Florida cities experienced their greatest growth in a "suburb-first" mindset. Now, they are going back to more fully develop their cores. Traditional cities did it the other way around, and many are really now struggling to experience the second major core development.