Bad days for Downtown Louisville

Downtown Louisville suffered a 1-2 punch this week, based on news that two big companies would be vacating office space.We talked about it on this week's Access Louisville podcast.Humana Inc. announced it would be vacating the signature, 27-story Main Street office tower that bears its name. The health care company is consolidating its workforce into other buildings. That Humana news came on Monday. Then on Tuesday Louisville Business First learned that Fifth Third Bank is vacating its office space at 401 S. 4th Street  and taking space near NuLu. You might say: So two companies are leaving there office space — what's the big deal? Well, it's part of a larger trend of companies leaving Downtown in favor of other areas. Office workers aren't the only thing a city needs — it also needs visitors, residents and sports teams and so on. But, absent a large core of residents, office workers help support the restaurants and other establishments that give the city a key part of its identity. On the show we talk about some of the issues that Downtown Louisville faces in the wake of this news.Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. You can find it on popular podcast services.