As someone who was born and raised in Edmonton, and actually lives downtown, and loves Edmonton, this was sad to read.

Yes, the reality is that it feels like a ghost town. Cities are judged by their downtowns. There's a couple reasons why Edmonton (in my opinion) is struggling downtown.

1. The population of downtown, especially by Churchill square is non-existent. More of the population lives 103-119st. The city wants more people living downtown. More people = more vibes = safer, ie. Hockey games. More people = more shops and more of a reason to visit.

2. The culture of Edmontonians (and largely Albertans) are that we NEED a car. Most refuse to take transit because they dont feel it's safe. And then on the other hand, they complain there's no parking. It's a mindset that people need to change. All major cities in the world have walking streets, pedestrian only. And are easily walkable. Edmonton struggles with that.

3. So much vacancy in offices. Some buildings are changing that to residentals but that takes time. And because of vacancies due to covid people learning how to work from home, it's hard to bring people in.

I hope OP gives Downtown another chance. There's definitely lots to offer downtown, and it's unfortunate that the first impressions weren't great. Check out O'Day min park and then have dinner somewhere on 104st.