O/T Dumfries , our town

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My sister who lives in Edinburgh but was brought up in Dumfries visited me recently and we were walking through the town. She was visibily upset at what she saw having not been ' doon hame' for a while. This got me thinking that locals only see a gradual deterioration where as visitors ( who know the area) see a massive difference. This certainly is not the bustling town I grew up in the 70s and my opinion is that the retail side has gone forever. Online shopping , out of town retail parks and trains rammed full of Doonhamers going to Carlisle to spend their hard earned money have seen to that . -----------The question now is what can be done to improve this very dire situation ? I remember a letter to the Standard around a month ago about this particular subject. This person said shopping was now dead and forget about it coming back because it aint. He/she suggested that the future of Dumfries was making the town centre a one of leisure/ entertainment for families. Sounded interesting to me . Thoughts ?