Portugal just dropped its indoor mask requirement, but still requires them on public transportation and in taxis. I am going next week (and renting a car).

Quebec still has mask mandates and Ontario still has it for hospitals (understandable given the disease still physically exists tbh) and Transit.

For Ontario they expire June 11th, and suspect they will actually expire then.

I was in Florida a few weeks ago and coming from Ontario, probably one of the COVID-strictest places on the continent, it was a... change. It really felt normal.

Restrictions are basically entirely gone here now and don't seem to be coming back, but many people are still wearing masks everywhere and I have family members who still get very freaked out by COVID positive tests, etc. It was odd going to Florida where it basically felt like 2019 other than maybe 1 in 100 people in the grocery store wearing a mask.

I think the only place in NY that still has a mandate is public transit, which means the rule is now arbitrary and stupid. Yesterday I was on a subway car with about 20 people (thus fairly empty) and 90% of the people weren't wearing a mask. But mask usage is typically close to 100% when the cars are crowded.

I was going to say the opposite in that I now notice very little difference traveling between Toronto, New York, and even Texas (where I was two weeks ago briefly).

This time last year, going to Miami felt like visiting a different planet. Now, there seems to be but a few holdouts still living in the 2020/2021 mindset.

Very few wearing masks here and most of them are probably retired tourists; Mildred and Stan (who miss their grandkids back in Cleveland) but need a few days to get shit faced by the pool, lay out in the sun and eat shitty overpriced seafood. Those folks..

Yeah, it's closer to 40-50% compliance now. I didn't wear my mask for the first time yesterday, mainly because I was only going two stops anyway. We don't need to wear a mask anymore in the office, and maybe 15% still wear them. So it feels natural not to wear masks in other situations.

Apparently this BA.2 is spreading in PA but I don't think anybody cares. Rarely see folks wear masks. Which is good because it will spread quicker. Something like 85 percent of the population had one dose and about 70% fully vaxxed... so we should be good.

Warm weather is out so nobody cares anymore here.

Portland still has a few mask stragglers. Covid has killed the downtown economy tho. So many empty storefronts. :( Wfh has crippled civic culture. Way to go introverts.

Somewhat predictably, Manhattan seems to be entering a boom. Many of the storefronts that were emptied out by the pandemic are now under renovation.

I'm surprised it's down to a few 'stragglers' there. I'd figure there would still be quite a few..

Looks like SF is taking another pandemic-induced remote work office draining hit.

425 Market pictured in the middle.

https://images1.loopnet.com/i2/BKOHw.../112/image.jpg
https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/425-...o-CA/16847513/

https://techcrunch.com/2022/04/27/pa...ncisco-office/

^Wasn't Elon just telling everybody to get back to the office? That's ironic.

But....but.....but.....but......

Is it safe to get together again? I hear that case levels of the common cold are rising!!

We still have.......

.....wait for it....

....wait for it....

....wait for it....


COVID

CONCERNS!!!!!!

:haha::lmao:

He only bought Twitter as far as I know, not Paypal. I suspect he'll move Twitter HQ to Austin though.

He founded PayPal.

I don't think it's concerns for Covid though. I think people just don't want to go back to the office and a good portion probably don't need to be.

Nah. Portland is 50 percent midwesterners. Its way more conventional here than most residents want to admit. Shut in kids seem to be wearing masks the most.

I don't think he's been involved with it for several decades at this point though.

If everything can be done on the computer and the company can save money with less people at the building...they are gonna do it. Consider the savings for the government too by having people work from home.
For TUP it boils down to jealousy, while others will worry about the urban fabric, transit usage, and people walking around downtown. Which is ok...this is an urbanist forum!