At first glance, Cumberland Avenue looks like a goldmine for local business owners with heavy traffic from pedestrians and motor vehicles. But talk to most who have been around the University of Tennessee for a significant amount of time and they will tell you something different.

"I've been around Knoxville for six years now and I've seen so many places  go out of business or move," Eric Horton, a UT accounting graduate who used to work at the Soho Bar on the Strip.
"I've been around Knoxville for six years now and I've seen so many places go out of business or move," Eric Horton, a UT accounting graduate who used to work at the Soho Bar on the Strip. "It's kind of surprising-you'd think they'd get a lot of business here."

Horton conducted a video interview while on the Strip.

The problem has become so bad Knoxville's city council adopted a project called the Cumberland Ave. Corridor Study to help get to the bottom of the issue.  

A group called the Cumberland Avenue Advisory Committee was also created to come up with solutions on how to keep businesses on the Strip and address problems like traffic and parking. It consists of Cumberland Avenue business owners, UT faculty, residents of Fort Sanders and others concerned about the well-being of the Strip.

"I've heard some people say that businesses leave because they lose so much money from students being gone during the summer," Horton said. "I'm not sure about that though-there are plenty of businesses out there who depend on huge parts of their income during different times of the year like Christmas."