Beat me to it. It's astounding that the BDC doesn't note the most obvious reason folks won't start a business: if you're already in a financially precarious position--as are many particulaly among younger cohorts--then starting a business looks like madness.

srsly, the malls here are mostly empty except for a few larger clothing chains and an ungodly amount of phone stores.

Used to have a locally run craft store, musical instrument shop, a place that sold decent quality footwear that also did repairs (holy shit is it hard to find good everyday shoes that don't fall apart after a season), there was a place that did custom frames for paintings and large photos that also sold local artwork. Hell it used to have a food court with a few non chain takeout places there and the only dairy queen in the entire town, but that all got torn out and replaced with a Rossys.

Sure none of those businesses were super vital for the community, but they are gone and nothing has replaced them really. Mall owners would rather half their building be empty than charge a sane amount.