What the general public doesn’t realize and what the MSM is refusing to report is that 2020 has been a disaster for major American cities, particularly the democrat kind (which is most of them).
With the pandemic, the democrat cities were hit harder, and their shutdowns have lasted longer. Thus, many businesses there that closed are closed for good and not coming back.
Also with the pandemic, people have found an aversion to being stacked on top of each other in small dwellings. Now, urban living is perceived as a public health hazard.
Corporate business adapted by discovering that with technology, many employees can work remotely from home. Thus, they don’t need to pay for ridiculously expensive commercial office space in costly urban areas. Employees living in the suburbs no longer have to commute downtown.
And then there’s the riots, and the democrat mayors’ refusal to restore order. Nobody wants to drive downtown and be set upon by the mob. As seen in the case of this company leaving Seattle, rioting and demonstrations are bad for business.
Defunding the police has only made the problem of civil unrest worse.
In short, the urban areas have taken a massive hit. The productive people in most of them are simply going to leave. And take their tax money with them.
Next move: every major metro area will want some kind of “regional taxing authority” so that they can siphon money out of the affluent suburbs to pay the costs that resulted from their very poor policy decisions.
Years ago it was called white flight.
Now it will be capital flight.