Am I really supposed to believe you don't understand my comment?
I suppose it's possible i misunderstood your comment; this is the internet after all, and sometimes subtleties are lost in translation.
To clarify, I understood your comment to imply that there were reasons other than the pandemic that was hurting the downtown retail environment. As for what other reasons you may have been referring to, i'm assuming they're some mix of homelessness, parking, bike lanes, etc. that often get thrown around on this forum. All of these non-pandemic reasons have been around for a number of years. Yet, foot traffic has remained consistent in the downtown core, implying that the number of potential customers has not declined.
....until this year, when foot traffic dropped for some unknown reason i guess.