On the latest round of conference calls the public company out of home executives cited weakness in West Coast markets.  They are one to something.  The University of Toronto used cell phone data through May 2023 to track which cities have recovered fastest from COVID.  Most large cities still aren’t back to where they were pre-covid.  Seattle, Portland and San Francisco are at the bottom.  Seattle foot traffic is 42% of pre-covid levels, Portland is at 37% of pre-covid levels and San Francisco is last at 31% of pre-covid.  Here’s the ranking for large cities…

And the ranking for mid-sized cities…

Billboard Insider’s take:  This data suggests there are many fewer people moving around most large urban downtown areas.  It’s not necessarily bad for your out of home plant if you are in areas around the downtown.  Seattle’s misguided policing and homeless policies are keeping people from returning to the downtown.  Workers don’t feel safe.  The ring cities around Seattle, however, are full of traffic and thriving.

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