One promising sign: More eateries have opened than closed in recent months. City officials and Business Improvement Districts are also developing a Downtown Action Plan that outlines tangible steps forward. But it would be a mistake to wait for their final recommendations. This is the moment when tens of thousands of workers are heading back to the office. This is when they will make their first impressions: Do they stay for happy hour or a festival? Do they come back on the weekend with friends and family? Do they even venture outside their office for lunch?

Cities need to move quickly. That means doing everything possible to lower barriers that prevent people from venturing downtown. Here’s what a reasonable “take a chance on downtown” plan looks like for D.C.

1. Give out $10 lunch coupons in September. People really do love “free” lunch. Columbus, Ohio, is one of the few major cities that’s almost back to pre-pandemic traffic downtown, and a key part of its success has been LunchBucks. Every Tuesday and Wednesday, $10 lunch vouchers are distributed downtown that must be used that day. Workers and restaurant owners love the program. “Tickets are given away within minutes,” said Amy Taylor, president of Columbus Downtown Development Corp. The District tried a similar initiative in spring 2022 with the Free Cup of Joe giveaway on Mondays, but it’s worth trying again as far more workers are slated to return this fall.

2. Waive food truck fees through the end of the year. Food trucks, which have disappeared from downtown, are one of the easiest ways to create vibrancy. Numerous truck owners say they have thought about returning to their old D.C. hot spots, but the city’s fees are too high to give it a try. It’s close to $2,000 for all the licenses and permits needed to operate legally downtown. The city put these fees and a parking lottery in place at the height of food truck mania a decade ago when there were too many trucks vying for the same spots. Now, the city has the opposite problem. D.C. should waive fees — or heavily slash them — through the end of the year.

3. Hire private security. Crime is up in the city. It’s not nearly as bad as levels in the early 1990s, when D.C. was the nation’s “murder capital,” but fear is keeping some people from coming downtown. Security needs to be visible: more cameras, more personnel and more barriers to slow traffic down. The reality is D.C. police staffing is at a half-century low, and that won’t change soon. The police force must be supplemented by private security. “The principal issue with D.C. is safety. People don’t feel safe,” said Masoud Aboughaddareh, who opened Lima Twist, a restaurant and cocktail bar, at 1411 K St. NW last year.

4. Offer free or reduced-price parking downtown on weekends. A strategy that works well in Fort Worth is free night (after 6 p.m.) and weekend parking downtown. D.C. meters typically charge until 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The city should consider “free parking for dinner” or on Saturday downtown for a month or two to see whether it increases trips. Also, the city should not be penalizing people coming into an area in need of revival: It would help to lay off the aggressive ticketing. Cellphone tracking data from Placer.ai shows foot traffic on K Street near the White House remains 45 to 50 percent below pre-pandemic levels (and about twice as slow as in the rest of the city).

5. Lower fees to open a small business through year-end. D.C. has a cumbersome process to start a business, which used to be worth it because of the high volume of customers. No longer. It’s telling that retailer H&M shuttered its location by Metro Center this month after operating there for 20 years. As acclaimed chef Richie Brandenburg, one of the masterminds behind the Square food hall opening downtown in September, put it: “This isn’t as much of a layup as it was pre-pandemic.” The city has a robust small-business grant program, but lowering fees and speeding up permitting for any business willing to go downtown must be top priorities.

6. Heavily promote events and eateries. A social media post is helpful but not enough. The city needs to get major employers to send out event lists to their workers. Food truck operators learned the power of homeowners associations’ email lists during the pandemic. They often won’t go to a neighborhood unless there is an email blast with close to 1,000 contacts. The city — and major employers — need a similar mentality of promoting reasons to come downtown again.

7. Get the second gentleman and other celebs out downtown. The city needs all the free publicity it can get. Many small D.C. businesses still have photos of their owners with Michelle Obama on the wall. Let’s get second gentleman Douglas Emhoff out downtown for a week. Same with basketball Hall of Famer Earvin “Magic” Johnson, a member of the Commanders’ ownership group. Or how about the city hosting a culinary salute for retiring Nationals superstar Stephen Strasburg?

A lot of the right elements are in place already for a downtown D.C. revival. New eateries are opening. New owners are resurrecting the Commanders. Festivals are expanding. But it’s frustrating to hear city officials say they can’t do much more until the Downtown Action Plan comes out. The entrepreneurs behind the Square like to quote fellow chef José Andrés: “What’s a reason to have a party today?” That’s the mentality city leaders need to adopt. Don’t just say workers are welcome back downtown; incentivize them to return.