Quote:
Originally Posted by JManc
Sounds like you aren't/ weren't into the nightclub scene but that doesn't make its hypothetical demise a good thing. Bars, nightclubs and the hospitality industry in general has been decimated...and they were what put a lot of people especially in places like South Florida to work.
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I am convinced the reason the twenty-something recent grad techie crowd seems to be fleeing the cities is because they are DEAD. San Francisco feels literally like there should be tumbleweeds blowing down Market St.
People flocked there because (1) there were plentiful well-paying jobs and (2) the place was a fun place to live, especially if you were young and single, whether gay or straight. It was a gourmet paradise, and there was nightlife aplenty. And besides tech, tourism was about the largest economic sector.
Mostly the tech jobs still exist, except you can do them from almost anywhere including Idaho. The restaurants are closed to indoor dining though many have been saved by elaborate outdoor "mini parks". But some have gone under and more may before its over. Meanwhile, the bars and clubs are closed completely; the Symphony/Opera/Ballet (all world class in the "before days") are shut down; there is no theater, live or filmed. And property crime is out of control, from shoplifting to vandalism to burglary. Many businesses are shutting permanently just because they are being robbed blind (there are reasons for this beyond COVID but the empty streets and lack of business aggravates things). And the hotels are closed except the ones the city has filled with the homeless.
I left myself . . . for Arizona where it's easier to isolate (single family home vs middies condo building) and I'm not missing anything because in SF it's all closed anyway. The city just dropped from California's "purple tier"--the worst--to red which allows them to open up restaurants again and also museums, but with lowered occupancy. I've got my fingers crossed that when I go back in April there'll be some life in the old girl.