Did the Covid-19 Pandemic Accelerate the Trend Toward Staying Home?
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Apparently so . . .
It looks like the pandemic accererated the trend and we have not yet recovered from it.
Going Nowhere Faster: Did the Covid-19 Pandemic Accelerate the Trend Toward Staying Home? (2025)
Problem, research strategy, and findings
Covid-19 significantly altered work, out-of-home activity participation, and travel, with much activity time being moved into the home. If these patterns hold, they could imply significant long-term changes for homes, businesses, cities, and transportation. We examined data for 34,000 respondents to the American Time Use Survey from 2019 (the pre-pandemic period), 2021 (the pandemic period), and 2022 and 2023 (the post-pandemic period). We used ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions to study participation in 12 out-of-home activities, travel (by auto, transit, and walking), and 16 in-home activities. We observed sharp declines in overall out-of-home activity, travel by all modes, and 10 of the 12 specific out-of-home activities in 2021 compared with 2019, whereas time spent on 13 of the 16 in-home activities rose during that period. By 2023, most of these changes persisted: Time spent out-of-home, traveling by all modes, and on six out-of-home activities remained notably lower in 2023 than in 2019, whereas time spent on nine in-home activities remained higher. The trend away from out-of-home activities and travel appears to be persisting.Takeaways for practice
First, given elevated remote work and shopping, planners should consider repurposing some office and retail land uses. Second, with fewer office workers, center cities may have to capitalize on other strengths such as recreational and residential desirability for some market segments, such as young people or others who prefer urban living. Third, more time at home may increase demand for more spacious and affordable housing, perhaps in lower-cost outlying suburbs of large metros and in smaller metropolitan areas. Finally, an end to ever-rising personal travel may lessen the need for costly interventions to increase the capacity of highway and transportation systems. -
@DavidPS said in Did the Covid-19 Pandemic Accelerate the Trend Toward Staying Home?:
It looks like the pandemic
Sounds totally plausible dave.
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@ThinPicking - I am not waiting for a 3-year update on this issue. I have been increasing the time I spend outside in natural sunlight (including sitting in the shade). Even when I am staying at home I am outside enjoying nature and being exposed to the longer wavelengths of light.
My cell phone records the number of steps that I take each day and that number declines during the winter months. I plan to buck the trend keep walking outside.
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Good!
I should get used to adding a #humour indication. Even if the humour indicates for more complex factors, it's a take it or leave it scenario.
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