Jim Carroccio was desperate. After decades of cognitive therapy, his struggles with PTSD and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder were as acute and debilitating as ever. So it was time to take a trip.

Literally and figuratively.

If you’ve been to downtown San Francisco in recent months, it will come as no surprise that the once bustling FiDi is no longer, and it’s been replaced by a skyscraping ghosttown. 

And if you haven’t been, you probably still know this. The Daily, a New York Times podcast, published an episode a few months ago, bleakly titled The Most Empty Downtown in America; a number of publications have penned articles on why SF is unique in its struggle to return its downtown to pre-pandemic bustle; and local politicians are putting their heads together in a desperate attempt to figure out how in the world to revitalize downtown SF.