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New York Nightlife Only Dropped 7% As Coronavirus Warnings Jumped, Foursquare Data Shows

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Some cities are heeding social distancing warnings more than others. Data released by the location services company Foursquare Wednesday on foot-traffic among 13 million Americans from February 19 until March 13 showed New Yorkers’ visits to nightlife establishments like bars declined a mere 7%, while Los Angelenos visits dropped 15% in the same period. 

Visits to nightlife spots are only down 4% nationally, according to the company, which may come as disheartening to officals who have urged people to stay home as the coronavirus started to spread in the U.S. 

When it came to other activities like going to the movies, New Yorkers were slightly more likely to stay home. Visits to movie theaters were down 33% in New York compared to 30% in San Francisco and 27% in Los Angeles in the February to March period. 

With consumer-facing apps like Foursquare, Swarm and City Guide, users opt to track their locations through checkins at various locations, saving and sharing their data for future visits and for other users.

Not surprisingly, airport and office visits fell and grocery and warehouse store visits shot up in the past month, consistent with reports of panic buying and the reeling avation industry

“People seem to be buying in bulk, with visits to warehouse stores like Sam’s Club and Costco up nearly 39% nationally,” Foursquare said. “The largest relative increase was in the New York City area, where foot traffic to warehouse stores is up more than 51%.”

Washington State has had one of the highest death rates from the virus in the U.S., according to John Hopkins, which at the time of publishing reported over 1,000 confirmed cases and 55 deaths. Travelers’ visits to Seattle and San Francisco Bay Area airports were down 24%-27%, almost double the decline to Los Angeles airports, which declined 15% in foot-traffic. 

The West Coast has also taken the lead in remote work, with office visits declining by nearly half in San Francisco. 

“Declines began in earnest in Washington, California and New York around March 2, as U.S. news coverage of the outbreak began to pick up,” Foursquare’s report reads. “San Francisco offices have since surpassed Seattle offices with the largest relative decline, with foot traffic down 46% from the week ending February 24 to the week ending March 13.”

But as of last week many New Yorkers continued to go to their offices. There was only a 13% decline in office visits over the same period. 

National data indicates that in the biggest cities, Americans have just about equally sacrificed restaurant dining, with sit-down restaurants seeing an 11% dip in foot-traffic.

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