How Is Covid-19 Impacting Life in Your City?

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

There are a lot of Chicago area bars and restaurants that are openly defying the indoor ban.

I have mixed feelings. I know they are desperate, and I feel for them. But I also think that Governor Pritzker is genuinely trying to get this pandemic under control.

What can I say. This situation just royally sucks so badly.....

I see that there are people inside restaurants, but I don't know anybody who would eat inside a restaurant right now.

Maybe something like indoor tents might be a solution, although that does not sound pleasant at all...

[mhays]

People like that are going to make this last WAY longer.

When the numbers are low, you can find a happy medium. But it's not in a bar yelling spit at each other.

[chris08876]

Hopefully the outdoor dining sticks long after the pandemic is over. At least in the U.S..

Its kind of nice to see small towns where pre-purge, folks would be eating all inside... but during the summer of 2020, folks be out in masses eating outside and wearing sunglasses. Adds a bit more variety.

Less indoor dining, more outdoor dining during warmer months. Almost like that European feel, in America's suburban wastelands.

[dave8721]

Here in Florida we can easily do outdoor dining year round. In fact we are just now entering our peak outdoor dining season, when its less hot and humid. Of course we have DeSantis as governor so last month he removed all restrictions of any kind on bars and restaurants and stopped any fines (goal was more about creating election chaos). Miami-Dade (despite having a republican mayor) is sort of defying the state by at least trying to have some occupancy restrictions and still levying fines.

[Buckeye Native 001]

I think Arizona (or at the very least, Governor Ducey) is gunning hard for the herd immunity approach, especially now that we're entering the time of year where everything's not so miserably hot. I fully believe that everything he's doing is to shore up support for a Senate run in 2022 if McSally loses next week.

[10023]

Originally Posted by dc_denizen

Where I live life is pretty normal , except everyone is wearing a mask and nobody is taking the train to the city

Where you live must be very suburban. I didn’t expect that.

[10023]

Originally Posted by SIGSEGV

I see that there are people inside restaurants, but I don't know anybody who would eat inside a restaurant right now.

Maybe something like indoor tents might be a solution, although that does not sound pleasant at all...

Why not?

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by 10023

Where you live must be very suburban. I didn’t expect that.

Where I live is pretty suburban and things definitely aren't normal. Though different places have different measures in place.

[Acajack]

Another impact: creeping workoholism.

Without the "break" between office and home that is provided by a commute (even a short one), I, my wife and my friends are all finding we're working more hours. Often for free (well, I am not eligible for overtime and neither is my wife) as it's harder to track and claim overtime in this context. Of course, there is also the fact that there isn't much else to do. We're all at home most of the time instead of going to choir practice, rock concerts or ferrying the kids to the hockey rink.

I find the computer's always on and close by, as opposed to when you come home from the office and you actually have to go to the trouble of turning it on and logging in if you want to stay that connected to work.

Now it's always on and the work day seems to start earlier and also drags more into the evening.

Though I suppose this might just be an adjustment phase and eventually most of us will find a new equilibrium.

But right now I'd wager a heckuva lot of us are doing more work for the same pay.

(Some would argue we're lucky to still be getting paid though.)

[10023]

Originally Posted by mhays

People like that are going to make this last WAY longer.

When the numbers are low, you can find a happy medium. But it's not in a bar yelling spit at each other.

With the current social distancing rules in London we might as well be in full lockdown. It is not enjoyable to go out. And restaurants are suffering doubly because they are actually operating and paying staff, but unable to earn enough revenue to cover costs.

People over 65 need to be told (made?) to stay home to address the real risk and life needs to be allowed.

edit: I was just getting a coffee. Some grey haired old lady with a lower class accent walked in, and when the staff told her she needed a mask just shouted “I’m exempt!” and continued on. Must have been 70. That kind of shit is the problem, not anything young people are doing.

[Acajack]

The percentage of young Americans aged 18-29 living with their parents has gone over 50% for the first time since the 1940s.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by 10023

With the current social distancing rules in London we might as well be in full lockdown. It is not enjoyable to go out. And restaurants are suffering doubly because they are actually operating and paying staff, but unable to earn enough revenue to cover costs.

People over 65 need to be told (made?) to stay home to address the real risk and life needs to be allowed.

edit: I was just getting a coffee. Some grey haired old lady with a lower class accent walked in, and when the staff told her she needed a mask just shouted “I’m exempt!” and continued on. Must have been 70. That kind of shit is the problem, not anything young people are doing.

Most people are still on board to play along with the restrictions, but as I've said elsewhere on this board there is less and less sand in the top part of the hourglass.

Restaurateurs and bar owners in our neighbouring province of Ontario lobbied for and won permission to keep patios open all winter with semi-open tents and heaters. Areas like the Byward Market in Ottawa just across the river from me are a sea of white tents with heaters. (Here in Quebec even in this is not allowed. So restaurants can only offer takeout.)

Anyway, the expectation in Ontario is that at least some patrons would continue to come and dine and especially drink in heated "outdoor" spaces.

On Radio-Canada today there was a report about how most of these heated outdoor spaces were deserted. This was on a decent day when the temperature was 5-6C so around 45F. It was mentioned that the cost of heating was actually quite high and many businesses found it wasn't worth it for the handful of customers they'd get over an entire day.

So my guess is that outdoor heated patios aren't really going to be a thing (and be much help to businesses), as we're not even close to the coldest part of the winter yet.

My wife and I actually crossed over to Ottawa to have drinks at some of these places over the weekend. It wasn't unpleasant but not something we'd do regularly. Or maybe it just takes some getting used to? This was a weekend afternoon so the patios were busier. Definitely deserted but not even close to being full.

[suburbanite]

Originally Posted by Acajack

The percentage of young Americans aged 18-29 living with their parents has gone over 50% for the first time since the 1940s.

I'm back at the parents again and paying a mortgage for somewhere I go to hang out every couple weekends. Living in some crazy alternate reality for the past 8 months. I'm wondering if there will be a bit of a buyers rush at the end of all this. A lot of my friends are all working and living at home, saving stupid amounts of money not doing anything. There's a large segment of the population getting hammered by Covid, but there's also a smaller more well-capitalized group of people sitting on the sidelines.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Another impact: creeping workoholism.

Without the "break" between office and home that is provided by a commute (even a short one), I, my wife and my friends are all finding we're working more hours. Often for free (well, I am not eligible for overtime and neither is my wife) as it's harder to track and claim overtime in this context. Of course, there is also the fact that there isn't much else to do. We're all at home most of the time instead of going to choir practice, rock concerts or ferrying the kids to the hockey rink.

I find the computer's always on and close by, as opposed to when you come home from the office and you actually have to go to the trouble of turning it on and logging in if you want to stay that connected to work.

Now it's always on and the work day seems to start earlier and also drags more into the evening.

Though I suppose this might just be an adjustment phase and eventually most of us will find a new equilibrium.

But right now I'd wager a heckuva lot of us are doing more work for the same pay.

(Some would argue we're lucky to still be getting paid though.)

Sorry, but I'm kind of having a hard time feeling bad for the "work from home" class.

I and my wife have been going to work and exposing ourselves to the public. Every. Single. Day. Since this pandemic hit. We don't know what "work from home" even means. And the fact that our kids were kept out of school and we still had to arrange supervision for them completely threw a wrench into our lives.

Just enjoy your couch and your personal laptop.....

[suburbanite]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Sorry, but I'm kind of having a hard time feeling bad for the "work from home" class.

I and my wife have been going to work and exposing ourselves to the public. Every. Single. Day. Since this pandemic hit. We don't know what "work from home" even means. And the fact that our kids were kept out of school and we still had to arrange supervision for them completely threw a wrench into our lives.

Just enjoy your couch and your personal laptop.....

It depends on the person, but personally for me work from home sucks (if you don't have kids). It takes twice as long to do some things over teams/phone than it does in-person. It's way harder to just bang through a full day of work. Trying to do anything technical (ie. not just emails but actually building financial models or pitches) on a laptop is absolutely aneurism-inducing. I was going back to the office as soon as it and gyms were open and it was ten times better.

As Acajack said, work hours just blend into this 24/7 mix of "not fully working but not off from work either." I took a week vacation in August and it basically just meant that I didn't respond to emails within two hours but I still probably "worked" 20+ hours that week. I don't know how your practice works but are people emailing you at 11pm on a Saturday? No one has boundaries anymore lol

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Sorry, but I'm kind of having a hard time feeling bad for the "work from home" class.

I and my wife have been going to work and exposing ourselves to the public. Every. Single. Day. Since this pandemic hit. We don't know what "work from home" even means. And the fact that our kids were kept out of school and we still had to arrange supervision for them completely threw a wrench into our lives.

Just enjoy your couch and your personal laptop.....

Sorry about that.

Did not want to sound like I was complaining (too much).

But this is a thread about the changes brought on by COVID-19.

And I do think that for white collar office workers, WFH all the time has erased the demarcation between work time and personal time.

Many days my wife and I are basically online from 7 am to 8 or 9 pm.

It's not the end of the world and obviously many others are far worse off, but it's still a "lesser" situation.

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by 10023

With the current social distancing rules in London we might as well be in full lockdown. It is not enjoyable to go out. And restaurants are suffering doubly because they are actually operating and paying staff, but unable to earn enough revenue to cover costs.

People over 65 need to be told (made?) to stay home to address the real risk and life needs to be allowed.

edit: I was just getting a coffee. Some grey haired old lady with a lower class accent walked in, and when the staff told her she needed a mask just shouted “I’m exempt!” and continued on. Must have been 70. That kind of shit is the problem, not anything young people are doing.

you need to wear your damn mask around so life is allowed. your no masking crowd is to blame for this. it could have been crushed over the summer, or could be held at bay in trouble spots, but you wont wear a mask. and who knows who you have infected, made sick or killed by your reckless, selfish behavior and attitude.

also, nyc looks like a damn shantytown with all these streeteries. and now they want more of it for retail. sad.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

you need to wear your damn mask around so life is allowed. your no masking crowd is to blame for this. it could have been crushed over the summer, or could be held at bay in trouble spots, but you wont wear a mask. and who knows who you have infected, made sick or killed by your reckless, selfish behavior and attitude.

also, nyc looks like a damn shantytown with all these streeteries. and now they want more of it for retail. sad.

Not sure about his behaviour or its effect and that of others on the virus spread, but where I live you can't go anywhere (ie inside any building or enclosed space) basically other than your own house without a mask, and we're still under a very strict lockdown.

There is not really much wiggle room at all for the anti-mask crowd and yet here we are.

[niwell]

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

But now, things just look pretty bleak all around with none of those things really possible anymore, and little respite visible on the horizon. I recently got a kitten though, so at least that's something going for me!

Congrats on the kitten! We just got a new puppy and it's been... a handful. Being able to go out is quite restricted even when we want to!

Generally my experiences during COVID and this past summer sound pretty similar to yours, which isn't too surprising to me. It was actually a very fun summer and I am excited to see the loosened restrictions on alcohol continue, which I feel like will. I'm against the current ban on indoor dining as I explained in the Canada thread - it seems like a sop to account for an increase in cases that was largely unrelated, not unexpected and currently being managed (though should obviously be watched carefully).

We're going to a heated patio to watch a horror movie at our local with our small friend bubble (no family in Toronto) this evening, which should be quite fun.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by niwell

I'm against the current ban on indoor dining as I explained in the Canada thread - it seems like a sop to account for an increase in cases that was largely unrelated, not unexpected and currently being managed (though should obviously be watched carefully).

It's easy to see how the pressure to do this exists here in BC too through the public health announcements and Q&A periods.

There is a lot of sensitivity around announcing who's contracting covid or who's getting sick and dying. It seems the officials don't want to give some people the sense that they're at low risk, nor do they want to identify individuals or blame certain demographics (lately it sounds like the cases are disproportionately centered in the South Asian community and you can see that geographically). So we are left with pretty vague updates. Some specific "negative" comments like "we know that very few cases are coming from restaurants lately".

This leaves mostly the case count data and a bunch of people who demand action whenever the numbers go up. It would be very easy for officials here to implement useless new restrictions to give the appearance of action and control in this situation and I give them credit for showing restraint. They get pressured by both sides which is probably a good sign. Appeasing extremists on either side would be a disaster for a place that so far has had both low deaths and comparatively mild restrictions.

I see one case was highlighted, a woman in her 80's who died after attending a birthday party.