Posted 4 years ago in Trending
1 MIN READ – In July, Chicago Loop Alliance began collecting monthly survey data from its member businesses and stakeholders to track operations during COVID-19, and has released the August report.
Some highlights include:
- Office occupancy, pedestrian activity, parking volumes, and hotel occupancy are all trending upward.
- 25 percent of respondents are open with all staff working onsite; 38 percent with some staff onsite and some remote; 19 percent with all staff remote; and 15 percent temporarily closed.
- Driving personal cars is the most popular way respondents get to the Loop.
- Shopping and dining are the most popular Loop activities respondents will participate in.
Chicago Loop Alliance also tracks pedestrian activity using counters by the U.K.-based company Springboard. Eighteen counters are located on the east and west sides of State Street from Wacker to Ida B. Wells drives. Additional counters are at Michigan and Wacker, Michigan and Washington, and in the Pedway.
The most recent weekly pedestrian activity report is for week ending Sept. 6. Activity was up by 13 percent on State Street compared to the week prior, but was down by 62 percent compared to the same time period in 2019.
“The combination of COVID-19, social unrest and subsequent restrictions to access the central business district have been a gut punch to the Loop,” said Chicago Loop Alliance President and CEO Michael Edwards. “We’re glad to see all the data trending up, and that the return downtown to Everyone’s Neighborhood continues. We hope Chicagoans who haven’t been downtown in a while will remember all the things they love about the Loop—favorite restaurants, arts and culture, parks and public spaces, retailers and more—and will find a way to support them.”
Anyone interested in getting back in the Loop to work, shop, dine and more can use Chicago Loop Alliance’s online "What's Open" tool to see what’s open and what health and safety guidelines businesses have put in place. Chicago Loop Alliance invites people to share their experiences downtown on social media using #BackInTheLoop.
