Hi Jordan,
I feel like cities thrive with their vibrant neighborhoods and amazing small businesses and restaurants. These businesses are one of the reasons people decide to pay much higher rent to stay inside the city. While an issue before Covid, the closure of restaurants and business has become even more apparent as the shutdown continues. People will start to venture back out just to find their neighborhood drastically different than they remember.
My question is how would you better protect these institutions. It baffles me that landlords would kick a business out during this time of economic contraction, but it is apparently more lucrative to sit on vacant property and wait for someone willing to pay exorbitant rent. I feel that is incredibly short sighted and risky. Assuming business can open new stores is one risk, but the potential damage to the neighborhood and city is another. The also risk people moving to lower rent areas. Derelict store fronts don’t mix well with high rent, especially as more people get the nod to work from home full time.
This is part of a larger housing and zoning issue that plagues much of DC, but I think a very important one.