'We could be feeling this for the next decade': Virus hits college towns

Jun 29, 20200

Maddie Mcgarvey – New York Times count

A deer on the campus of Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, June 21, 2020. Opening bars and bringing back football teams have led to new outbreaks. Communities that evolved around campuses face potentially existential losses in population, jobs and revenue.

DAVIS, CALIF. – The community around the University of California, Davis, used to have a population of 70,000 and a thriving economy. Rentals were tight. Downtown was jammed. Hotels were booked months in advance for commencement. Students swarmed to the town's bar crawl, sampling the trio of signature cocktails known on campus as "the Davis Trinity."

Then came the coronavirus. When the campus closed in March, an estimated 20,000 students and faculty left town.

With them went about one-third of the demand for goods and services such as books, bikes and brunches. City officials are expecting most of that demand to stay gone even as the economy reopens.

https://www.startribune.com/we-could-be-feeling-this-for-the-next-decade-virus-hits-college-towns/571530792/