>>279679817 (OP)Akiba was always just a place otaku gathered to find the items they wanted.
There's no magic dirt there that gives it special claim to the "holy land" for otaku, it owed a lot of its success due to the fact that it was conveniently located.
Sure Akiba has lost its otaku-ness, but I hear you can find the same vibe in other parts of Tokyo like Ikebukuro and the like.
Also some ITT might have interest in a video on the state of Akihabara that came out last week (I suspect OP made this thread in response to that). Patrick Galbraith, longtime anime scholar, gives his take on the changes around the neighborhood. He talks about the post COVID police crackdowns and the wave of normalfag consumers, Chinese/Korean/LatAm tourists and prostitution/gambling joints.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4y_j329Y_Y&inv-redirect=0
The column of images on the left is old Akiba, on the right you see more recent footage. The fifth image from the top on the right is apparently a corner that used to be plastered with ads for bishoujo media. The last image on the right column was formerly where Gamers placed their big iconic sign of Dejiko; it got taken down and all that's left is a faint shadow.