Resurgence Delayed—or a Pandemic Exodus?

In this interview with Emily Badger of the New York Times, Natalie Moore of WBEZ Chicago, and Amanda Kolson Hurley of Bloomberg Businessweek, Slate's Henry Grabar asks about the future viability of America's cities and suburbs in a time of COVID-19

1 minute read

July 14, 2020, 7:00 AM PDT

By Michael Dudley


COVID-19

Richard A McMillin / Shutterstock

"In the early days of the pandemic, there were a number of articles speculating about: Is COVID a sort of urban disease? Is this an urban phenomenon? Is it because of density? Is it because of the subway? And from the beginning, that struck me as the wrong question to ask. In suburbs, whatever level of density and whatever that suburb looks like, people are going to houses of worship, kids are going to school, people are going to the gym, they’re going to Walmart or whatever, they’re going to the grocery store. And actually the more that we’ve learned about how the virus spreads and what the riskiest situations are for becoming infected, the more that kind of city-suburb distinction really breaks down."

Monday, July 13, 2020 in Slate

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