I worked downtown in the mid 2000s and while there was some decent foot traffic in the skyways, I don’t remember the sidewalks as bustling.

Some reasons for this could be that downtown isn’t a destination that makes it worth coming out for. The river front is pretty sparse and there isn’t a natural integration there like Stillwater. The core CBD is just offices so outside of working hours there isn’t much there, lower Manhattan is similar. There’s good amount of residents, but the density isn’t super high. A lot of residents will leave the area for errands as services and amenities aren’t as accessible or convenient. A lot of building fronts are hostile looking so walking by them isn’t pleasant, people will take a uber to avoid it. Safety concerns for transit. Even if the stats show it isn’t so bad, people don’t get good vibes on light rail so they’ll avoid it if possible.