I remember quite a bit about late 70s and early 80s downtown.  It would take an oldtimer to know what you're talking about if you said "Bus Accommodation Center", for instance.  In comparison, what I've seen downtown in recent times can only be described as antiseptic.  It's been going that way since the 1990s, but without any of the 24 to 25-story buildings that were announced and never built (I remember three right off the top of my head).