CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Downtown Chicago has been pretty much empty since Loop office towers began implementing work-from-home policies in early March.
The Chicago Loop Alliance says its pedestrian count on State Street is down more than 80 percent compared to this time last year.
The economic recovery will be gradual, says Loop Alliance President and CEO Michael Edwards.
The first step, he says, will be to attract the 300,000 downtown office employees who are now working from home. The next step will be to convince Chicagoans to spend a day downtown.
The speed of the economic recovery will then depend on how people feel about their own health and safety, Edwards said.
"We will be very pragmatic in how we roll out and develop a new tourist attitude here in the city," he said.
But right now, he adds, many Loop businesses that depend on tourists and office workers are fighting for their own survival.
