I remember going downtown at night with my folks to shop or to see a first-run movie in the mid to late 50's, even traveling from Hialeah to do so in the late 50's. Then suburban shopping centers (163rd, Northside, Palm Springs, Dadeland) opened and downtown lost most of their business and it has never been the same since.
Pictures on the left: Kress, F. W. Woolworth's, Lerner Shops and Burdine's. On the right: Cannon, McCrory's and Grant's.