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I was just in Savannah last week for the first time since Covid broke out and it was noticeably as busy as the pre-pandemic times. Granted though it's more related to growth in tourism and lots of new SCAD housing downtown there than anything else.
Pittsburgh's Downtown is still suffering on the retail and office/commercial side of things; however, residential demand is as strong as ever, unbelievably, even if people no longer have to work Downtown.
Pittsburgh's Downtown is still suffering on the retail and office/commercial side of things; however, residential demand is as strong as ever, unbelievably, even if people no longer have to work Downtown.
Which I don't think is all that different than most places. Retail is in flux still in the US. Many cities have pivoted to converting old office space to new residential development, this was happening before COVID, but the pandemic has really accelerated the process:
Not sure if you meant Midtown or Downtown NYC but Midtown is the much more vibrant of the two. And Midtown is basically back to pre-pandemic vibrancy levels with a couple of small pockets that are still affected. I was just at a weekend matinee of Hamilton in Midtown last weekend and the streets were slammed. And this wasn't even the mad rush dinner crowd or a holiday weekend. So it all depends on where go in the city but the city is basically back to where it was.
Agree. I live in Manhattan and it largely feels back to normal. The city (as a whole) feels a bit rougher than it did pre-Covid, and the office district in Midtown is toned down, but it's good to see the overall wonderful chaos of NYC return. This holiday season will be the first normal one since 2019!
Quote:
Originally Posted by elchevere
Interesting article in today’s NYT re: cities heavily dependent upon downtown office workers in some key cities and the impact:
Midtown Manhattan is basically back to bustling, like it always was. There are more vacant stores and much less occupied offices, leading to less people in some streets and pockets, but overall midtown is crazy vibrant, as usual.
Also, downtown is the same. Except in some smaller areas, folks are back and it is bustling and busy, just like pre-pandemic.
I go into my office in midtown about once a week, and it is shoulder to shoulder packed on the main thoroughfares of 5th Avenue and Broadway, at most times of the day. There's no shortage of people and vibrancy.
And I live roughly 10 minutes from downtown Brooklyn, and go there almost every day. You would never know a pandemic hit. Downtown Brooklyn is just like it always was--tons of people and lots of vibrancy. I'm sure there are some vacant offices, but from the street level, you would never know it.
I don’t know if this question can be answered objectively. This and previous threads show that most C-D posters believe that their downtowns recovered over a year ago with most being busier than ever. Even with transit and airplane passenger levels down, even with so many working from home and even with businesses closed it somehow works out to be the same if not better.
I don’t know if this question can be answered objectively. This and previous threads show that most C-D posters believe that their downtowns recovered over a year ago with most being busier than ever. Even with transit and airplane passenger levels down, even with so many working from home and even with businesses closed it somehow works out to be the same if not better.
Agree. It doesn't add up to me, although maybe people are viewing this in different ways. I have definitely noticed things creeping closer to the previous "normal" but I definitely can't see how downtowns could be busier than they once were, especially with much more remote work.
I have seen much more crowds and activity compared to the lowest points in 2020, but still not close to the sustained levels of activity and crowds that there were pre-COVID.
Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
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To me, cities that would be at 2019/early 2020 levels are those that didn’t shut down completely and/or did so for only 2 months—not 16 months. Bonus points for not being overly dependent upon downtown office workers if they enacted stricter Covid policies and/or are/were reliant upon mass transit commutes to the office. Besides office vacancy rate stats might be interesting to see a comparison of mass transit stats. Might also depend how one / what area(s) one is defining as downtown.
Last edited by elchevere; 11-17-2022 at 09:22 AM..
I don’t know if this question can be answered objectively. This and previous threads show that most C-D posters believe that their downtowns recovered over a year ago with most being busier than ever. Even with transit and airplane passenger levels down, even with so many working from home and even with businesses closed it somehow works out to be the same if not better.
Right lol. We need actual stats because it’s smoke and mirrors otherwise.
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