After the onset of the pandemic, nearly all signs of life in major city centers across the country seemed to disappear overnight. Public health experts took to broadcast networks, deeming places like New York City epicenters of community spread.

By March 2020, local authorities were implementing lockdown measures to stop the spread of COVID-19. As a result, around 80% fewer people were driving into downtown regions of cities, including San Francisco, Detroit, Phoenix, and Miami.

Vaccines were rolled out in 2021, air travel returned to pre-pandemic levels in 2022, and motor vehicle traffic roared back to life as Americans began feeling the pandemic posed less of a threat to their health.

However, many cities have yet to return to the pre-pandemic traffic. That suggests the pause in activity at the start of the public health crisis may have had a lasting effect on how Americans interact with busy downtowns that have long been centers of business and cultural activity.

We used the Inrix Traffic Scorecard data to determine how traffic to downtown centers has changed compared to pre-COVID levels. The Inrix data measures the volume of trips Americans took into downtowns each year since the pandemic began and compares them to trips taken pre-COVID as the baseline—or approximately late February 2020.

STILL COMMUTING? FIND OUT THE CAUSES OF POOR GAS MILEAGE AND HOW TO FIX THEM

Downtown trips were still down in many cities compared to pre-pandemic, but have recovered from early lows

In U.S. cities, downtown regions are often home to large concentrations of commercial office space and are surrounded by an ecosystem of small and large businesses that depend on foot traffic to stay afloat. In the last two years, many cafes and lunch counters have closed up shop in city centers, throwing in the towel as office workers have been slow to return and commercial rents have increased.

Employers and employees alike have held on to some of the habits that helped them survive during those early days of the pandemic. White-collar workers, in particular, now say they have more flexibility. About half of all workers who are capable of working remotely are doing so in a hybrid fashion, according to a Gallup poll from August 2022, and just 20% say they are in-person at their workplaces every workday.

In Phoenix and San Diego, people are commuting into city centers at nearly the same levels as pre-pandemic—but they are the exceptions, not the rule.

The trend of avoiding tight roadways, pricey eateries, and skyscraper-laden downtowns appears to be stronger in places like Miami, where traffic has hovered 20% below Inrix's pre-pandemic benchmark for more than a year.

San Francisco

• Downtown trips fell 87% in April 2020.
• Trips remained down 49% from pre-COVID levels in fall 2021.
• Downtown trips were down 41% from pre-COVID levels by fall 2022.

Detroit

• Downtown trips fell 91% in April 2020.
• Trips remained down 41% from pre-COVID levels in fall 2021.
• Downtown trips were down 30% from pre-COVID levels by fall 2022.

Los Angeles

• Downtown trips fell 69% in April 2020.
• Trips remained down 28% from pre-COVID levels in fall 2021.
• Downtown trips were down 28% from pre-COVID levels by fall 2022.

Dallas

• Downtown trips fell 81% in April 2020.
• Trips remained down 32% from pre-COVID levels in fall 2021.
• Downtown trips were down 27% from pre-COVID levels by fall 2022.

Seattle

• Downtown trips fell 77% in April 2020.
• Trips remained down 36% from pre-COVID levels in fall 2021.
• Downtown trips were down 27% from pre-COVID levels by fall 2022.

Baltimore

• Downtown trips fell 68% in April 2020.
• Trips remained down 23% from pre-COVID levels in fall 2021.
• Downtown trips were down 24% from pre-COVID levels by fall 2022.

Washington DC

• Downtown trips fell 83% in April 2020.
• Trips remained down 38% from pre-COVID levels in fall 2021.
• Downtown trips were down 24% from pre-COVID levels by fall 2022.

Portland

• Downtown trips fell 77% in April 2020.
• Trips remained down 32% from pre-COVID levels in fall 2021.
• Downtown trips were down 22% from pre-COVID levels by fall 2022.

Charlotte

• Downtown trips fell 77% in April 2020.
• Trips remained down 33% from pre-COVID levels in fall 2021.
• Downtown trips were down 21% from pre-COVID levels by fall 2022.

Philadelphia

• Downtown trips fell 79% in April 2020.
• Trips remained down 22% from pre-COVID levels in fall 2021.
• Downtown trips were down 21% from pre-COVID levels by fall 2022.

Chicago

• Downtown trips fell 77% in April 2020.
• Trips remained down 21% from pre-COVID levels in fall 2021.
• Downtown trips were down 20% from pre-COVID levels by fall 2022.

Minneapolis

• Downtown trips fell 75% in April 2020.
• Trips remained down 20% from pre-COVID levels in fall 2021.
• Downtown trips were down 18% from pre-COVID levels by fall 2022.

Houston

• Downtown trips fell 80% in April 2020.
• Trips remained down 25% from pre-COVID levels in fall 2021.
• Downtown trips were down 17% from pre-COVID levels by fall 2022.

Miami

• Downtown trips fell 75% in April 2020.
• Trips remained down 20% from pre-COVID levels in fall 2021.
• Downtown trips were down 17% from pre-COVID levels by fall 2022.

Atlanta

• Downtown trips fell 81% in April 2020.
• Trips remained down 16% from pre-COVID levels in fall 2021.
• Downtown trips were down 13% from pre-COVID levels by fall 2022.

Boston

• Downtown trips fell 87% in April 2020.
• Trips remained down 23% from pre-COVID levels in fall 2021.
• Downtown trips were down 13% from pre-COVID levels by fall 2022.

New York

• Downtown trips fell 85% in April 2020.
• Trips remained down 18% from pre-COVID levels in fall 2021.
• Downtown trips were down 4% from pre-COVID levels by fall 2022.

Denver

• Downtown trips fell 83% in April 2020.
• Trips remained down 10% from pre-COVID levels in fall 2021.
• Downtown trips were down 2% from pre-COVID levels by fall 2022.

San Diego

• Downtown trips fell 69% in April 2020.
• Trips remained down 12% from pre-COVID levels in fall 2021.
• Downtown trips were up 3% from pre-COVID levels by fall 2022.

Phoenix

• Downtown trips fell 70% in April 2020.
• Trips remained down 7% from pre-COVID levels in fall 2021.
• Downtown trips were up 6% from pre-COVID levels by fall 2022.