Can downtown Everett get its groove back from a decades-old funk?
EVERETT — On a recent summer’s afternoon, First Street in Snohomish teemed with shoppers and moms and dads pushing strollers. Sidewalk gazers lounged at outdoor tables. Parents, comfortable with letting the older kids roam, enjoyed a breather. Inside the shops, cash registers rang up sale after sale.
In downtown Everett that same day, a much different story. The lunch crowd had scattered. The people-watching quotient was poor.
Everett’s central business district has struggled for decades.
The nonprofit Downtown Everett Association and the city have tried to breathe new life into the city’s core with new events, festivals and funding sources. Empty storefronts, homelessness, vandalism and a drop in foot traffic — in part a casualty of the pandemic — are taxing their efforts.
https://www.heraldnet.com/business/hungry-to-shop-local-but-obstacles-abound-in-downtown-everett/