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Lunch atop a skyscraper, first published in the New York Herald-Tribune, Oct. 2 1932.    Charles Clyde Ebbets 

‘All that is solid melts into air’

John Rennie Short is professor emeritus of public policy at the University of Maryland. This article was originally published in The Conversation.

The hollowing out of U.S. cities’ office and commercial cores is a national trend with consequences for millions of Americans. As more people have stayed home following the COVID-19 pandemic, foot traffic has fallen and major retail chains are closing stores, and prestigious properties are having a hard time retaining tenants.

(Some Southeastern cities, like Knoxville, Asheville and Greenville have seen the opposite occur).

In May 2023 the shuttering of a Whole Foods market in downtown San Francisco received widespread coverage. Even more telling was the high-end department store Nordstrom’s decision to close its flagship store there in August after a 35-year run.

In New York City, office vacancy rates have risen by over 70% since 2019. By spring of 2023 Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, a stretch of high-end shops and restaurants, had a 26% vacancy rate.

A recent study from the University of Toronto found across North America, downtowns are recovering from the pandemic more slowly than other urban areas and “older, denser downtowns reliant on professional or tech workers and located within large metros” are struggling the hardest.

Like many U.S. cities, Portland, Oregon, is losing downtown businesses. This cuts into urban revenues and creates a perception of decline.

Over more than 50 years of researching urban policy,  U.S. cities have weathered through many booms and busts. Now there is a  more fundamental shift taking place. Traditional downtowns are dying or on life support across the U.S. and elsewhere. Local governments and urban residents urgently need to consider what the post-pandemic city will look like.