What does a post-pandemic downtown look like?

After most of Rochester’s downtown businesses scraped through the spring and summer, the reality of winter is setting in. With new Covid cases spiking to unprecedented levels and new restrictions in effect through at least mid-December, the worst months of the pandemic may, somehow, still be ahead of us. 

A number of local establishments have spoken out in recent days asking for the community’s help: the idea of ‘shopping local’ has become a matter of survival for some business owners. We have spent several episodes of the podcast detailing the harsh reality of owning a small business in 2020 — from restaurants forced to close, to the spirit of collaboration that has kept so many of our favorite establishments afloat. 

Nobody knows exactly what the next few months will bring. Good news on the effectiveness of various vaccines brings hope, but a lack of federal aid leaves small businesses without a safety net when they need it the most. Inevitably, some of our favorite businesses will not survive the winter.

For the businesses that do get through, though, what world will await them on the other side of the pandemic? How will things change? That is the focus of this latest edition of the Rochester Rundown.

Listen to the full episode

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