As the pandemic bore down in early 2020, it drove people out of city centers and boosted shopping and dining in residential neighborhoods and nearby suburbs as workers stayed closer to home. Those habits seem poised to stay.
Shampoo, toothpaste and other toiletries are locked up at downtown pharmacies. And armed robbers recently hit a Gucci store in broad daylight.
“They’re no longer central business districts. They’re centers of innovation, of entertainment, of recreation,” he said. “The faster places realize that, the better.” Why? San Francisco relied heavily on international tourism and its tech workforce, both of which disappeared during the pandemic. And midwestern cities like Indianapolis and Cleveland already struggled pre-pandemic with diminished downtowns as they relied on a single industry to support them and lacked booming industries like tech, said Karen Chapple, director of the School of Cities at the University of Toronto and author of the study.
Real estate experts also point to office-to-housing conversions as a potential lifeline. Cities such as New York and Pittsburgh are offering sizeable tax breaks for developers to spur such conversions. Still, San Francisco officials say the downtown, which stretches from City Hall to the Embarcadero Waterfront and encompasses the Financial District and parts of the South of Market neighborhood, is in transition.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Boston's plan to convert empty office buildings into housing faces challengesBoston Mayor Michelle Wu announced a program on Tuesday to offer steep property tax discounts of up to 75% for landlords who convert empty office space into residential use. Wu's policy comes in response to two problems afflicting many cities: since the COVID-19 pandemic increased remote work, demand for office space has dropped, while already high housing prices have continued to rise.
Read more »
Boston’s plan to convert empty office buildings into housing faces challengesBoston Mayor Michelle Wu announced a program on Tuesday to offer steep property tax discounts of up to 75% for landlords who convert empty office space into residential use. Many office buildings, though, cannot easily or affordably be turned into housing. Here’s why.
Read more »
Southern California heat warnings and advisories remain in force as ‘dangerously hot’ weather continuesExcessive heat warnings or advisories were in effect in the Banning area, the San Gabriel Mountains, the Santa Clarita and Antelope Valleys and the San Gabriel and San Fernando valleys.
Read more »