Mixed use is still not a bad idea at all IMO, the problem is that there is just too much dedicated land zoned commercial already, and most mixed use development

Mixed use is still not a bad idea at all IMO, the problem is that there is just too much dedicated land zoned commercial already, and most mixed use development has too high a commercial:residential ratio for it to make the problem less-bad. The solution could be to convert the zoning for large big box stores that go out of business to residential.