By Ashley Huang
A recent article from Concentrate, a digital news magazine serving Washtenaw County, highlighted a study done by QMSS students on downtown Ann Arbor’s post-COVID recovery. The study was conducted along with Ann Arbor SPARK, a local economic development agency (and longtime QMSS partner), whose members oversaw and provided insight to QMSS students as they completed their research. After seeing the University of Toronto (UT) Large Cities Study that looks at the post-pandemic recovery of major-city downtowns across North America, QMSS students reached out to UT in hopes of building on the original study.
The UT study measured activity across various downtowns by utilizing data from 18 million smartphones to identify and track activity from “downtown points of interest.” Using the same methods, QMSS students discovered that Ann Arbor’s downtown has recovered from its own COVID downturn, even more so than other similar cities such as Austin, Chicago, and Detroit, among others.
The QMSS study also found that Ann Arbor’s recovery is strongly related to the UM student population. Downtown activity was lower when fewer students were on campus, such as during school breaks, but drastically increased when students came back. Melissa Sheldon, SPARK research director, said “The work that [U-M] students did really help put into perspective that…we have recovered in terms of activity.”
Moral of the story: if you’re a Michigan student feeling bad about reckless spending downtown, don’t! You’re an essential part of one of the most remarkable economic recoveries in the modern era. And if SPARK’s work seems interesting to you, be sure to visit their website or sign up for their newsletter for more about tech in Ann Arbor.
QMSS wants to thank the folks at the UT School of Cities for collaborating and sharing their wisdom.