Oxford city center is extremely pedestrian friendly and yet it's also experienced this trend in the last 10 years. I don't think your comment is actually engaging seriously with what's been happening.

And what will people do there? There's only so many restaurants and pubs a street can support.

First pic in the article is a pedestrian street without cars. Not sure it's fixed anything.

They are well past these simple mobility solutions. The reasons and economic, demographic, and geopolitical.

While we're at it, let's regress to the 10th century.

"just take a leisure 5-mile stroll every time you need something other than groceries, bro."

it never ceases to baffle me to see the progressive cosmopolitan types being utterly detached from the reality they live in.

If you’d read the article you’d know that’s part of the problem. 2000 free spaces out of town at the retail park, 1300 spaces in town, which will cost you £20 for an afternoon’s shopping.

That works if people live within walking distance of the high street. Do they? No, they don't.

Rethink business rates, crack down on shoplifting, change the welfare system to encourage work, tax internet shopping (temu, etc).

Or just accept the world has moved on.