COVID-19 in Boston

stoweker said:
i mean a consideration on tech right now is that there have been huge layoffs in the sector and from what i've heard there's a lot of shadow vacancy right now in CBD as a result of that. A lot of the "knowledge" economy in boston could get whacked if the VCs retrench and reconsider viable investment opportunities. I mean when i think of my friends from business school who went to join startups out of school 5+ years ago you'd hear the business plan and think "jeez how the heck is that ever going to work" but there's a ton of froth in that market so people were getting funded. it'll be an interesting ride for boston if the cash spigot gets shut off on tech / tech start ups need to move out of the city to cheaper options because there's not a fund with an unlimited check book behind them willing to front the losses for years until they hit viability.
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Oh, I don't disagree at all about the COVID uncertainty. Just asking for some justification on how the unrelated one-night riots that took place not-at-all near a major tech employment neighborhood play into that, since the poster in question is no stranger to slipping an incongruent trollbait whoopee cushion in for the lulz. One of those things was definitely not like the other.
 
www.thebige.com

The Big E | 2020 Fair Update

The Big E Fair is so much more than just a fair, it is tradition, it is celebration, it is the showcase of everything we are so proud of in New England. This is why our hearts are heavy as we bring you this news. For the safety of our fairgoers, staff, vendors, entertainers, exhibitors...
www.thebige.com www.thebige.com

"ə"

:(
 
Related but different topic: if COVID-19 persists into the colder months, the lack of heat lamps and (covered) outdoor seating space for Boston's restaurants is going to do that industry in. In California, they have reversed course on dine-in service, but they still allow dine in service if it's outdoor seating. Boston restaurants won't have this option during the winter months if they don't start adapting now. Of course, not amount of coverage and heat lamp would overcome a snowstorm or a blizzard.
 
One of the biggest employers in the country is now allowing employees to work-from-home for another year. This isn't a subtle trend where you can work-from home on an occasional basis, it's a paradigm shift. In the end, IT businesses will re-think their investment in real estate / lease agreements.


boston.cbslocal.com

Google To Let Employees Work From Home Until Summer 2021

One of the world's largest tech companies is bracing for a long pandemic.
boston.cbslocal.com boston.cbslocal.com
 
You have to wonder how this is going to affect office demand. I'm surprised so many office projects are still going forward.
 
tysmith95 said:
You have to wonder how this is going to affect office demand. I'm surprised so many office projects are still going forward.
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Wondering what Google is going to do about its Boston expansion - they were going to double their office space in Kendall.
 
Do people feel that the Boston metro area is prepared to host an influx of college students? My personal answer is that I trust government and University officials to do the best job possible, and that I am confident that if it can work anywhere we can make it work here.

But I have doubts that both the nature of our international and national student population, and how 20 year olds behave in groups is going to make it difficult.

That Notre Dame and UNC have both reverted to virtual after they had more than a hundred covid-19 has in their first week is really interesting.

will we find out that Massachusetts is different from Indiana and North Carolina? Even if the schools themselves are not all that different from Boston area schools?
 
I'm not expecting much of an impact. There will be covid clusters within college student communities for which by and large covid is low risk. There will be a subsection of young people who will engage in covid high risk behavior on the weekends, social gatherings, drinking, mask off, lack of social distancing, etc. on weekends. That seems to be where transmission occurs. That being said drive around any neighborhood and you will see groups of people, including but not limited to young people, all summer long who have not been observing public health guidelines and doing the exact same thing. Those same college students will then mask up and obey social distance guidelines when they go to the cafeteria or class and interact with vulnerable portions of the population. I don't see a huge risk to the more vulnerable cohorts, e.g., faculty and staff, when everyone is masked up and keeping at least 6 feet of distance.
 
Man, BU is a fuckin' ghost town. I would say the risk is definitely overstated based on number of students actually seen around and about vs. what right now is usually peak of the locust invasion.

The only clusters are going to be any idiots hosting back-to-school parties in an Allston apartment...but I would think the campus P.D.'s have a light enough workload right now with all the no-show's that they'll be doubly vigilant about the off-campus gatherings.
 
BU, Northeastern, and Tufts are the only large schools I'm aware of offering in-person courses to every student. And even with that, I'm sure/know some/most have made it optional to the student in how they proceed this semester, many of whom have the common sense to stay at home. A good number of students are considering/have committed to co-ops and internships in place of this semester too, and others are just taking it off.

For the most part, most schools in and around Boston have reverted to fully online with labs and other equipment-heavy courses remaining in person under restrictions, and those on campus are subject to highly frequent testing, with some schools threatening expulsion if they do not comply with the testing requirements.

Even with the few colleges having in-person courses, there's a high chance they are sent back home after an increase in cases. It's happening already in a lot of southern colleges, many of which are suspected to have promised in-person courses to maintain enrollment, bring people on campus after they cashed their checks, and then sent them home. So far, with Northeastern, they've had 1 positive case out of ~4,000 tests, and their students are tested every 5 days. Their contact tracing is also rigorous and built off student ID Card key swipe tracking and limiting student accessibility to buildings they don't normally need to be in. BU had 3 positive cases yesterday out of nearly 1,500, which is slightly concerning, making a total of 19 out of ~12,000 since July 27, with daily screening and twice weekly testing for undergraduates and weekly testing for graduates. Tufts numbers are hard to find quickly, but their testing frequency is identical to BU's.
 
stefal said:
So far, with Northeastern, they've had 1 positive case out of ~4,000 tests, and their students are tested every 5 days. Their contact tracing is also rigorous and built off student ID Card key swipe tracking and limiting student accessibility to buildings they don't normally need to be in.
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Yeah. Northeastern is trying to be very draconian about its infection prevention measures, which is good to see.
 
stefal said:
BU, Northeastern, and Tufts are the only large schools I'm aware of offering in-person courses to every student. And even with that, I'm sure/know some/most have made it optional to the student in how they proceed this semester, many of whom have the common sense to stay at home. A good number of students are considering/have committed to co-ops and internships in place of this semester too, and others are just taking it off.

For the most part, most schools in and around Boston have reverted to fully online with labs and other equipment-heavy courses remaining in person under restrictions, and those on campus are subject to highly frequent testing, with some schools threatening expulsion if they do not comply with the testing requirements.

Even with the few colleges having in-person courses, there's a high chance they are sent back home after an increase in cases. It's happening already in a lot of southern colleges, many of which are suspected to have promised in-person courses to maintain enrollment, bring people on campus after they cashed their checks, and then sent them home. So far, with Northeastern, they've had 1 positive case out of ~4,000 tests, and their students are tested every 5 days. Their contact tracing is also rigorous and built off student ID Card key swipe tracking and limiting student accessibility to buildings they don't normally need to be in. BU had 3 positive cases yesterday out of nearly 1,500, which is slightly concerning, making a total of 19 out of ~12,000 since July 27, with daily screening and twice weekly testing for undergraduates and weekly testing for graduates. Tufts numbers are hard to find quickly, but their testing frequency is identical to BU's.
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Tufts is testing all students (as well as faculty/staff that interact with students) twice weekly, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. This applies to everyone living both on and off campus. There are multiple on-campus testing facilities, everything is ID swipe-based, and tests are processed by the Broad Institute. At the start of the year, everybody arriving from outside of MA/NH/VT/ME/CT/NY/NJ must quarantine until they receive three negative tests. “Local” arriving students need to quarantine until they receive one negative test. During quarantine everybody gets meals delivered to their doors by Tufts Dining Services, whether they live on campus or not or have a meal plan or not. Anybody with a positive test will be moved into dedicated modular housing that Tufts has set up on the campus tennis courts.

As of August 20 the university had administered 3,427 tests and had only two positive asymptomatic cases.

If that testing regimen doesn’t keep the virus at bay then nothing will.
 
Just as I suspected. Move out of higher priced city, expect a pay cut. Even if this particular company is throwing in one time moving costs. They'll recoup that in 2 years time on the lower salary and they have you by the balls on comp once you relocate to Idaho or somewhere similar.

www.cnn.com

Stripe is paying employees $20,000 if they leave big cities — but they'll also get a pay cut

Stripe is paying employees $20,000 if they relocate from expensive cities such as San Francisco, Seattle and New York, where the company has offices. But workers who make the move will have to take a 10% pay cut.
www.cnn.com www.cnn.com
 
"[Outdoor dining:] Count Mayor Martin Walsh as a convert.

In comments at a community meeting in the South End on Monday, he said he was open to looking at making such permits granted for restaurants this summer a more permanent fixture citywide even after COVID-19.

“We’re having a conversation now about that,” he said. “I think the fact we have outdoor dining and it’s added a whole new and different dynamic to the communities. I love the idea…I hope to pick it up in the spring and have a conversation then with Licensing to make it permanent.”

 
The fact it took a pandemic to possibly even start talking about changing this demonstrates how utterly fucked this cities attitude is towards making the place fun and vibrant.
 
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