I'd like a bit of help, some ideas from all of you.

[frazzled]

6. I think you're leaving out the impact of technology

Bricks and mortar retail was already undergoing considerable attrition before the pandemic; COVID merely accelerated it and made more retail businesses realize that their future was online. No more expensive rents and upkeep, and fewer employees to pay.

Now, as a result of the pandemic, coupled with technology, many businesses, including even some colleges and medical practices, are seeing they they too can save money by moving more of their activities online.

Those towering office buildings in my city are virtually empty right now, and I doubt they will be coming back in any considerable way after the pandemic ... there will be many buildings and department stores in our cities that will remain empty and deteriorating, some of them architectural gems that have given life and beauty to our urban environments for a century or more.

I’ve been asking for a long time what our cities will look like as more shops and business leave the real world to go online. Empty streets without people, empty storefronts except for restaurants and eyebrow threading and nail salons.

Capitalism won’t be going away ... it’s stronger than ever. But the physical nature of cities and the social engagement of the people will be much altered ... not because of the pandemic per se, but because of the onward march of technological evolution.

I hope I am wrong, because I think these changes are destructive to the social fabric.