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If the heartbeat of a city can be measured by its downtown, the pulse in Greensboro's urban core is strong and growing stronger.

Time was when the place seemed cold and lifeless. Especially on weekends.

Now people live and play in the center city even on week nights.

On Dec. 5, Festival of Lights crowds packed every inch of Center City Park for the annual Community Tree Lighting. Shoppers spilled from that event toward the far end of South Elm Street, to visit downtown businesses as carolers sang and bands played Christmas music on bustling street corners.

A lot of the things you might imagine in an ideal downtown you could see that night. But the uncertain economy does pose serious challenges.

Stuck on neutral

Most noticeably, several high-profile projects have slowed to a standstill because of the tight credit market, says Downtown Greensboro Inc. President and CEO Ed Wolverton. They include:

* the renovation of the Southeastern Building;

* the conversion of the old Miller Furniture Co. space into apartments upstairs and a Sixth and Vine wine bar and restaurant downstairs;

* the Murrow Station mixed-use project on the eastern edge of downtown;

* the old North State Chevrolet site, which is targeted for mixed use.

As for the housing market, Wolverton says, 90 units sold last year versus only 40 this year.

Meanwhile, retail shops have had a hard time gaining a foothold downtown and now face both a recession and competition for the consumers' attention from suburban shopping centers and malls.

Even downtown's strongest suit -- its restaurants and nightclubs -- are seeing traffic wane as a cautious public chooses to spend less on dining and entertainment.

"Downtown has come so far since when I moved here," says Richard Whittington, managing director of Triad Stage, the seven-year-old regional professional theater on South Elm Street.

"But the problem is, it is so fragile."

One of the saving graces of today's downtown may be its ability to help sustain itself. More than 1,200 people live there now versus 500 four years ago.

And some establishments are able to feed, sometimes literally, off of one another's success.

Triad Stage rents four units for visiting actors at City View Apartments.

Elon University Law School owns a unit at the new Center Pointe high-rise.

Whittington notes Triad Stage's relationship with several restaurants that receive heavier dinner traffic on nights when plays are scheduled.

High interest rates

Then there is a heavier flow than ever of entrepreneurs who inquire about available space for new businesses, Wolverton says.

Finally, despite a delay in its opening, the most visible new project downtown is near completion.

The first phase of the Center Pointe tower now will open in January, says its developer, Greensboro builder Roy Carroll. He says the economy has slowed recent sales of condominiums in the new high-rise but no previous sales have fallen through.

"Most of our buyers are empty-nesters," he says. "They don't need to sell their current residences to buy ours."

Expect the announcement soon of the restaurant that will locate on Center Pointe's first floor, Carroll says.

'Still bullish on downtown'

As for another of his properties, the old North State Chevrolet site, which he wants to develop for mixed use, Carroll acknowledges it has stalled. But he insists the project eventually will move forward.

In fact, he says, he is still actively looking for even more sites to purchase downtown because he predicts high growth there.

Then he broaches the idea of a performing arts center in the center city, which he believes the city should revisit since voters, again, defeated the War Memorial Auditorium bonds on Nov. 4.

"We are still bullish on downtown," he says.

And well he should be.

City View Apartments are a rousing success. New Bridge Bank Park defies conventional wisdom by attracting big crowds one baseball season after another. The opening of a popular new chain restaurant, the Mellow Mushroom, near the southern tip of downtown could draw more traffic beyond the center city's hottest few blocks along South Elm.

Wolverton hints that downtown boosters will vie for the city's new competitive swim center.

Wolverton, Whittington and Carroll sounded similar notes: This too will pass. Its foundation is solid enough, at last, for the center city to withstand the tremors of a shaky economy.

Times are tight, but downtown Greensboro appears tough enough to see them through.