In an effort to compete, the city even closed off it's main downtown street to traffic to try to mimic the mall. It was a popular, but misguided strategy, that failed in Burlington, just like it did in hundreds of other cities across the country.

Cut off from the traffic that had been the downtown's lifeblood, the downtown mall became a desert that only sped the exodus of stores.

Meanwhile, Westland Mall absored not only the commerce, but the social functions and fabric that had once been the realm of the downtown.