This past spring, activity in downtown San Francisco reached just 31 percent of its 2019 level, as measured by comparing visits to points of interests such as restaurants, retail shops, and grocery stores between the two years. No other North American city of the 62 reviewed in a University of California, Berkeley analysis fell that far. Is “the City,” as its residents like to call it, destined to hollow out and become synonymous with urban decay? Or can it reverse its decline?
Lockdowns turned urban cores into ghost towns, but not all downtowns are still hurting. The Berkeley analysis shows that Salt Lake City’s downtown activity had reached 155 percent of its pre-pandemic level. Downtown Columbus, Ohio, is busy again, too, up 112 percent. Two California downtowns, Bakersfield (117 percent) and Fresno (108 percent), have made strong recoveries. When entire cities, not just their downtowns, are considered, San Francisco fares better, but not by much. It’s second from the bottom, with a recovery value of 61 percent. Two California cities, again Bakersfield and Fresno, were first and second, with values of 139 percent and 132 percent, respectively. Sacramento (108 percent) was fifth, and San Diego (100 percent) eighth.
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