Based on local conditions in the nation’s 100 largest metro areas, Moody’s Analytics has selected and issued a report on the top ten cities best-positioned to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic – as well as the 10 worst.
The top ten list – sorted alphabetically “in order to avoid assigning false precision”, according to report author Adam Kamins– includes large metro areas such as Washington, D.C. and Denver, as well as up and coming areas like Boise, Idaho. The bottom 10 include hard-hit, densely-packed metro areas such as New York City, Detroit, and Honolulu, Hawaii.
Fast-growing tech hubs in the West and South will lead in the post-coronavirus era. “Silicon Valley is nobody’s idea of an up-and-coming area. But there is a notable contrast between the San Jose metro area, with its sprawling tech campuses, and tightly packed San Francisco,” says Kamins, who notes that Raleigh, North Carolina could also prove to be more attractive in a new, post-COVID-19 world.
While Washington DC is one of the more densely populated metro areas in the nation, its highly educated workforce and even its architecture will pay off. “Its longstanding height limit on buildings [will help] leave it in better shape than the rest of the region,” says Kamins.
