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The downtown areas of San Francisco; Cleveland; and Portland, Oregon, have all had slow recoveries from pre-pandemic levels of activity, according to a new study.
The once-popular neighborhoods have seen a sharp decline in recent years, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley found using GPS location data from 18 million cellphones, then comparing activity from before 2019 to activity from March through May of this year.
PORTLAND RESIDENTS REPORT MOVING TO AVOID HOMELESS ENCAMPMENTS
San Francisco only has 31% of the activity downtown compared to its pre-pandemic levels, putting the city in last place of the 62 cities measured, the study found. Rounding out the bottom three were Cleveland, with 36% of pre-pandemic activity, and Portland, with 41% of pre-pandemic activity.
Salt Lake City was ranked as having the highest recovery of the cities recorded, with 155% of the activity in its downtown area compared to 2019. Bakersfield, California, and Columbus, Ohio, make up the rest of the top three, with 117% and 112%, respectively.
Fresno, California, is the only other city above 100% recovery, with a rate of 108%, according to the data.
Of the Canadian cities, only Halifax, Nova Scotia, ranks in the top half of cities, with a 72% recovery rate. The other Canadian cities have a recovery rate of 57% or lower, with Vancouver, British Columbia, the lowest, with a 43% recovery rate.
Researchers in the report say remote work has hurt the recovery of many downtown areas and that for many large cities, “it may be time to reinvent downtown.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
San Francisco has had crime problems recently, with spikes in homicides and shoplifting in 2021, leading to District Attorney Chesa Boudin being ousted in a recall in June. Portland’s low ranking comes as reports say residents are moving out of the city to avoid homeless encampments.
