Economist warns big blue cities are seeing 'really distressing' declines
Study shows Seattle, Chicago, NYC, San Francisco foot traffic all down since pre-pandemic 2019
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Foot traffic – and therefore economic activity – is plummeting most in Democrat-led cities, one economist and University of Toronto study concludes.
"It's almost all of these big blue cities. It's San Francisco, it's Oakland, it's Minneapolis. It's my home city of Chicago," economist Stephen Moore said on "Varney & Co." Monday. "These numbers are really distressing."
Cities run by Democratic mayors, including Cincinnati, Ohio; Houston, Texas; Raleigh, North Carolina; Chicago, Illinois; Portland, Oregon; Columbus, Ohio; Seattle, Washington; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Louisville, Kentucky; and St. Louis, Missouri, all rank in the bottom 10 of 66 metropolitan areas that have seen the least amount of foot traffic recovery since 2019, according to data from the University of Toronto.
The university’s "Downtown Recovery Rankings" measures the number of unique visitors via mobile device use from March to mid-June 2023, compared with the same time frame in 2019. Any number less than 100% indicates the city has not recovered to pre-COVID pandemic levels.
Economist Stephen Moore said Democrat-led cities are on a decline due to "the carjackings, the crime, the fact that you have these high taxes in these areas," on "Varney & Co." Monday. (Getty Images/FOX Business/Photo illustration / Fox News)
Other major players, like New York City, have only seen 66% of foot traffic recovery. Philadelphia ranks 49th at 67% recovery; San Francisco 48th at 67%; and St. Louis saw the lowest foot traffic recovery at 53%.
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As a result, "it shows that there's about one-third less economic activity in the downtown area of these cities," Moore pointed out.
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"Why is that? I think it's because of the fact that... the carjackings, the crime, the fact that you have these high taxes in these areas," the economist explained. "By the way, when you have fewer people going into the cities, think about the impact that has on the stores, the restaurants and so on."
On the other hand, Las Vegas, Nevada – which has an independent mayor – was the only city to see a positive post-COVID recovery with a foot traffic rate of 103%.