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The boarding up is because of the looting and rioting. Before that they were just closed as they would 'normally' close.

• kasey_junk 6y ago
  That was true in my neighborhood in Chicago but I’m not sure it was in San Francisco (where these pictures were taken). I remember seeing board ups there very early in the shutdown.
  • andromeduck 6y ago
    It's true in SF as well. There were a few businesses boarded up when SIP started but most of the boarding happened after union square and a few other streets were looted around end of may. In june we went from something like 5-10% boarded up to the 30-60% now depending on district. Even a lot of grocery stores are boarded up now, and quite a number of convenience stores like CVS stopped operating in half their locations and where operating, with reduced hours.
  • i_am_proteus 6y ago
    Bear in mind that San Francisco has very high property crime rates in general. Street wisdom is to leave absolutely nothing of value in a parked car, to do otherwise invites a smash-and-grab. In this context, it's natural that closed business would board up even absent riots.
  • catalogia 6y ago
    A lot of people anticipated civil unrest of some sort very early into the shutdown. The conditions were ripe for it; huge numbers of people losing their jobs and finding themselves socially isolated is a tinderbox just waiting for a spark.