San Francisco's financial district begins recovery as commuters return
SAN FRANCISCO - There are some encouraging signs of life in downtown San Francisco after three tough years of empty streets and vacant offices.
Businesses in San Francisco's once-bustling Financial District are still struggling to survive in the wake of a COVID slowdown, but a noticeable uptick in foot traffic has been welcome news for Priscilla Varela.
"We get a lot of bankers, lawyers, tech people," Varela said. She's a barber and co-owner of Brogan and Son off Battery Street where she's worked the past eight years.
"It's just now starting to be like a few more people on the street, a few more people in the offices...and a few more people in here, but it's not busy like it was before."
Brogan and Son was once home to nine barbers, most of whom worked full time. But after the pandemic decimated the industry and shuttered dozens of Financial District offices, Varela and co-owner Emily Graham were forced to reduce days. They now employ three barbers.
Graham has noticed a few more people walking the street, which has translated into some reclaimed business.
And ridership on BART has also spiked.
On Wednesday BART saw nearly 182 thousand riders-it's second highest number since March of 2020, second only to the Warriors Victory Parade.
But overall ridership numbers are still anemic compared to what they were before the pandemic. The Bay Area Council Economic Institute, a group that surveys businesses across the region, noticed a shift away from mass transit and toward driving and carpooling.
"Traffic is essentially back to what it was before if not even higher volume for certain hours of the day. So we're seeing that on the Bay Bridge during the morning rush hour there's actually more cars on the road then there were pre pandemic," said Abby Raisz."
New data from the council shows more people are returning to work in the city, but experts say the bustling downtown we once knew may have evolved for good as we settle in to a hybrid work model.
"Things aren't as consistent as they used to be we're going to see a lot of people coming in on Wednesdays Tuesday Thursday but especially Wednesday not a lot of people coming down on Monday and Friday," Raisz said.
