1.   And from the restored Gaslamp Quarter in the old downtown to suburban shopping plazas, the city is bustling.

2.   By early evening, the grid of streets that makes up the old downtown is all but deserted.

3.   Now that the new space is almost all taken, tenants seeking large blocks of space have had to turn to older buildings in the old downtown.

4.   Shoppers come upon a festive, one-store mall under a single endless roof, an heir to old downtowns.

5.   The old downtown, somewhat shrunk from its glory days at the turn of the century, has a remarkable, robust, main street.

6.   The old downtowns, he said, served just the immediate area, providing basic goods and services.

7.   The one reminder of the old downtown is the Odd Fellows Hall, with its historic interior and peeling exterior.

8.   When Wal-Mart pulls up and departs, it leaves both a hole in the old downtown and a gash across the entire local economy.

9.   In the old Belgian Quarter downtown, far seedier now with streets pocked and pitted by neglect, other new restaurants offer excellent meals at Paris prices.