First it was the virus.  Then it was the reactions to the virus, including governments shutting down private businesses.  These actions have essentially shut down big cities across the country.

I would contend that there wouldn’t be nearly as much paranoia about the virus if not for the federal government.  There wouldn’t be as much paranoia if the narrative hadn’t been pushed by the establishment media.  The establishment media was unable to stop the election of Donald Trump in 2016, but it is still powerful.

Over the last three months, we have seen a drastic change to the world we live in.  It is still bizarre that there are no major sports being played.

I grew up a little over an hour outside of New York City.  I was in the suburbs of Long Island.  I am glad I moved away after high school, following my parents south.  It is a tough place to raise a family.  It is expensive.  The politics of today would really frustrate me.

New York City is something of a contradiction.  It is filled with political leftists.  There are continual calls for bigger government in a place where there is already big government.  Many of the people there are highly intelligent.  They are certainly cultured, although that is not always a positive.  But in spite of the many intelligent people, they are economically stupid.  Maybe this could be said of America in general, but I see it as more pronounced in New York City.

At the same time, New York City is still something of a symbol for capitalism.  This is where Wall Street is.  If you ever visit, it is just a narrow street with big buildings.  While most stock trading is done electronically now, New York City is still a major hub for finance.  Even though there isn’t much manufactured there, it is a big place to do business.

While I wouldn’t want to live in New York City, I can understand the appeal of it.  There is a lot of culture.  There is Broadway.  There are numerous comedy clubs.  There is fine dining.  There is a major social scene.  It is really understandable why someone young without children would want to live there.  It is a short distance to a lot of things.

When the fear of the virus ramped up, many people fled New York City.  This is understandable.  According to the CDC numbers, New York is by far the worst place in terms of deaths attributed to the coronavirus.  The city alone is more than 20% of the nationwide deaths, and it is far worse when you include New Jersey and the rest of the state of New York.

However, I think many fled NYC not just because of the virus but also because of the reactions. All of the fun parts of the city shut down.  There was no fine dining.  There were no sporting events or comedy clubs or plays or social events.  Who would want to essentially be locked up in their little apartment with nothing to do?

I had already had this discussion a few weeks ago about New York City, wondering if it would ever be the same.  I said that I can picture many people moving away.  If you can’t have fun there, why be there?

As for work, everything has changed across the country.  Anyone who can do most of their work on a computer is showing that they can work remotely.  Why should companies pay for expensive real estate for employees to sit at a desk when the employees can sit at a desk at home?  Who is going to fill all of the skyscrapers filled with offices?

I’m not saying New York City is dead for good, but I was already picturing major changes coming on a more permanent basis.

Then Came the Rioting

Now we have seen rioting in most major cities across the nation.  It may have started out as legitimate protesting, but the rioters and looters used that as cover to commit their crimes.

The police in New York City are an organized bunch.  There are a lot of them.  It has not been as bad there as Minneapolis.

It’s hard to say how things would have been different if the government shutdowns had not occurred. It is actually easier to get away with bad things when things are still shut down to a certain degree.  I learned this after the flooding from Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans.  Crime was rampant.  It was because the middle class left town.  It isn’t the police that stop crime.  It is the presence of the general public.

Maybe the rioting will die down quickly, but it makes me wonder how this will impact city living when coupled with the government shutdowns.  The protesting and rioting happened before things were fully reopened in most cities.  The media does not seem to care that the protesters are not social distancing. So, it is supposedly dangerous to go to a store without a mask, but massive protests with people crowded together is ok.

Ironically, you can’t identify the criminals wearing the masks.  In the past, you would have been looked at as guilty if you were walking around during riots with a mask on.  Now, wearing a mask is seen as socially responsible.  So the looters can hide their faces when they are doing their looting.

It is hard to imagine that this won’t change things.  There have been riots before, but this is on top of the virus and the government shutdowns.  It is really easy now for the mayor of a city to impose curfews at night.  I mean, the public just accepted the forced shutdowns of businesses and stay-at-home orders for months.  If that is justified in the eyes of the public, surely curfews to stop rioting will be.

It gets to a point where people ask themselves why they are living in a big city.  I am not talking about the suburbs of a big city. I am talking about living where there are big buildings.  What are the benefits at this point?

Maybe some of the culture will come back.  Maybe things will reopen.  But will life really get back to the way it was in February 2020?  And if they do, why can’t things just shut down again with the next virus?  Talk about uncertainty.

I already thought New York City was going to change last week before the protesting and rioting happened.  Now I feel more strongly that this is a great possibility.  In fact, I am wondering about all big cities. What is the appeal of living in a place when there is such uncertainty?  The benefits of big-city living are declining fast.

I don’t know that there will be a mass exodus out of New York City on a permanent basis. Even if there is a permanent reduction of 10% of the population in a very short timeframe, this would be significant.

There is the same potential for other big cities.  It is easier to live in the suburbs, especially if you can now work at home. You can always drive into the city if cultural events return that are important to you.

The mayors that shut down cities are already hurting because tax collections are drying up. There is a budget crisis.  I see this as one of the benefits of the shutdowns, but unfortunately state and city governments may get bailed out by the Federal Reserve to a certain extent.

If people start fleeing big cities on a permanent basis, this will hurt tax collections even more. Maybe New York City will have to turn back to being a place of capitalism instead of a symbol of big government stomping all over people.