Between Covid and the current protests/riots, I think we're going to see a major reversal of the urban renaissance that took place from roughly 1990 to the pres

Between Covid and the current protests/riots, I think we're going to see a major reversal of the urban renaissance that took place from roughly 1990 to the present. A formerly tacky suburban bungalow with a fenced in backyard starts looking pretty good in a quarantine compared to a one-bedroom apartment where the only way outside is via a germ-filled elevator. Watching downtowns like Chicago's burn is going to make a lot of business rethink locating to urban cores, especially when remote work is proving to be highly effective. Even if all of this passes quickly, the imagery and emotion will remain. Just like 3-mile Island effectively put an end to nuclear energy in the U.S. even though it was an isolated incident, memories of quarantines and burning police cars are going to do lasting damage to economic development in urban cores.