Have not been here in 5 years. Its a long street thats pedestrian and (used to be?) bus only. Here's whats changed. Lots of construction that has sections closed. However, the re-opened sections are very nice and (appear to be) bus free now. Many businesses have moved on but the area seems MUCH nicer (less drugs and homeless) than just 5 years prior. YMMV.
This is a good stop if you want to just kill some time and like to shop. Variety of stores. Perhaps not as lively as a few years ago but I am sure it will revive during the holiday shopping season.
We stayed at the Staybridge Suites across the street. It was nice with teenagers to have the restaurants and shops when we wanted to break up our sight seeing.