Discount downtowns appear to have some combination of slow regional growth, high downtown taxes, inadequate transit, bleak streetscapes or just bad buzz. … Hey, wait a minute. What about supply and demand? Maybe the premium downtowns just have lower vacancy rates, and it’s scarcity that’s pushing up rents. Umm, no. That doesn’t seem to explain it. As the Journal pointed out, Chicago’s downtown vacancy rate is 16 percent, but buildings in the Loop command big premiums over suburban locations. Meanwhile, the vacancy rate in downtown Charlotte, N.C., is 5 percent, but rents there are about the same as out by the interstate… Philadelphia notwithstanding, transit seems to be a key factor in bolstering downtown office markets. Stands to reason: If the only way of getting to and from work — or around town during the day — is by car, why drive all the way downtown? Interstate locations are more convenient, and parking is usually free.

Over in the Wall Street Journal, Orange County Register columnist Steven Greenhut argues for Anaheim as a model for the Anti-Kelo, pro-business downtown. As part of the move to build a new downtown, the Platinum Triangle, around the Anaheim Angels stadium, the city under Republican Mayor and former State Assembly Speaker Curt Pringle has avoided the prevalent model of dealing with a single developer and pushing existing property owners out. Instead, the city has become what Greenhut calls "a laboratory for free market thought":

The council waived fees for homeowners undertaking renovations, on the grounds that the city would gain in the long run by the increase in property taxes. Anaheim also waived fees for business start-ups for three months; some 2,000 new businesses formed in 2005, an increase of one-third from the previous year. It also passed a tax amnesty and eliminated business taxes altogether for home-based businesses. Most cities don't like to allow churches to build new worship centers, because tax-exempt churches typically locate in commercial and industrial areas, taking properties off the tax rolls. Anaheim has eliminated most hurdles for approving new churches. Its housing plan also avoids "inclusionary zoning"--an increasingly popular approach to mandate that builders set aside certain amounts of "affordable" housing.

Baseball is also playing a role in Detroit's latest hopes for a downtown revival. The city, which earlier this year was bumped from the census bureau's list of the 10 most populous cities for the first time since 1900 (It was replaced by San Jose), has brought thousands of suburb-dwellers back into the city, and may spur Tigers owner Mike Illitch to build a new downtown hockey arena for the Red Wings, who he also owns.

Meanwhile In San Francisco, the new Westfield San Francisco Centre megamall, with the nation's second largest Bloomingdale's, is pushing to bring a suburban shopping experience [WSJ subscriber-only link] to the Market Street area of downtown, just off the bay, which has been in decline since the suburban exodus of the 1950s. While opening day lines stretched around the block, the 755,000 square foot mall's long-term impact on the city and neighborhood remain to be seen.

But can the Westfield San Francisco Centre thrive over the long term, on the edge of the city's tourism and retailing hotbeds and in an era when fewer Americans shop in department stores? The question nagged at a mall restaurateur, even as he reveled in the crowds. "San Franciscans don't like malls," said Chris Yeo, the chef at Straits Restaurant, a Singaporean restaurant on the mall's fourth floor. "When the hype is over, who will come here?"