19-Oct-20 – Slightly more people were walking around in the Loop in late September, but pedestrian activity is still off by 65 percent compared to last year, according to the organization working to attract people and investment to the Loop.

Chicago Loop Alliance says pedestrian activity on State Street during the week of September 20 was up five percent from the week before. Office occupancy and hotel occupancy in the Loop, says the organization, is not getting any worse.

Trying to coax more people to return to work in the Loop, CLA created a “back to work toolkit” intended as a guide for a “smooth and safe return to work.” It includes advice on getting to the Loop, information about businesses that are open, and a business operations report for September.

“Workers are the lifeblood of the Loop’s storefront economy,” said Chicago Loop Alliance President/CEO Michael Edwards (left). “The Loop has 20,000 residents and 370,000 workers during normal times. And what we’re hearing is that people actually really miss the Loop, and they miss the office. For some, coming back downtown to work, even just part of the week, isn’t an option that occurred to them.”

“So we created this toolkit as a way of saying, ‘The Loop is here, companies and building managers are going above and beyond, and there are safe ways to get downtown.’ We hope to see activity in the Loop continue to trend upward,” Edwards said.

Of its member businesses surveyed, CLA says eight percent are open with all of their employees working onsite, eight percent are open with employees working offsite, and 50 percent are open with a mix of onsite and offsite staff. 12 percent of businesses surveyed are temporarily closed.