"The high-frequency index of people visiting “places of commerce,” designed to track the progress of the US consumer economy during the Pandemic, has inadvertently turned into a measure of just how hard Texas and other states in the south-western US were hit by the winter storm in mid-February.
The index by the American Enterprise Institute, ... counts the number of people, based on cellphone GPS data, visiting “places of commerce,” such as offices, stores, malls, restaurants, hotels, movie theaters, airports, hospitals, other places of commerce and other points of interest in the 40 largest metro areas, and compares the number of visitors in the current week (Feb 15 – Feb 21) to the week ended January 15, 2020.
The index had been deteriorating in recent months into early January, with the individual indexes of the 40 metros dropping into a range between 71% and 38% of their foot traffic compared to January 2020.
... And then came the historic winter storm that slashed visits to places of commerce in the affected areas.
Austin, San Antonio, Nashville, Dallas, and Houston, which had been among the highest ranked cities in the index in recent months, plunged to the bottom of the list, with Austin’s visits to places of commerce in the week Feb 15 – Feb 21 at 34% of the level of January 2020.
Other cities in winter-storm-hit states, such as Oklahoma City and Little Rock are not represented in the index ...
For the current week"
Jacksonville (at 71% of the visits in January 2020).
Charlotte (69%),
Virginia Beach (59%),
Las Vegas (55%),
Seattle (49%),
New York (44%),
San Antonio (39%)
Austin (34%).
The infrequent winter storms in the southern part of the US essentially shut down cities a day or two until the storm settles down.
During this time, people stay home.
Businesses have trouble bringing in their employees because they can’t get there, etc.
It’s normally not a big deal because it’s mild and short.
... But this storm ... was huge, harsh, and long and led to large-scale blackouts and heating failures that shut down commerce and transportation for days, and numerous serious disruptions continuing for several more days.
Among the cities that weren’t hit by any winter storms that are near the bottom are San Jose (42%) and
San Francisco (43%).
People are working, but they’re still not going to the office.
A good number have moved to other parts of the Bay Area, or further afield in California, or have left California.
San Francisco’s Financial District is still dead.
Other central business districts are dead too.
Tourism is far from having recovered, and international tourism is still in collapse mode.
This has hit the most touristy cities the hardest, such as San Francisco, New York City, Las Vegas, and Miami.
Going to shopping malls is a lost cause.
Malls are in deep trouble, offering a way of shopping that has largely been obviated by e-commerce.
... Entertainment outside the home has gotten hit very hard, with many music venues, sports venues, theaters, and cinemas closed, others nearly empty.
Many bars and restaurants are still restricted or are closed.
... The number of movie tickets sold has fallen since the peak in 2002, hammered by technology, including streaming and affordable big-screen TVs.
Then the Pandemic reduced ticket sales to near-nothing.
... the shift to home-viewing of movies that has been underway for years accelerated during the Pandemic, made increasingly attractive by technology ... "
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.