You got that right. Ren Cen walled itself from the rest of downtown literally with its giant berms and complicated access. If anything it accelerated the demise of Merchant's Row. Its labyrinthine maze confounded shoppers. Still does today. Being along the river it is a dead end. The other retail effort of that era, Trapper's Alley, met a similar doom and destroyed the charm of Greektown in the process.
The action now is a triangle along Broadway from Grand Circus Park to Greektown, Greektown to Campus Martius and Campus Martius up Woodward to GCP. I hope it takes hold and works this time but my jury is still out.
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