An Empty San Francisco

I don’t want to focus on the COVID-19 pandemic, but it’s hard for me to just breeze by it with makeup and hair videos like it isn’t happening. This is a time none of us will forget, and I want to remember the good or more interesting things that happened during this time.

San Franciso was placed under shelter in place orders on March 16, 2020. What does that mean? Well, basically it means to stay at home unless you have to get groceries or go to the doctor.

One thing that is permitted is going outside for exercise or fresh air. A lot of people, especially in the city, live in apartments and don’t have a yard to go walk around in. We have outdoor amenity spaces in our building, but they closed them so we could practice safe social distancing and they could send some workers home.

About three or four days in I was in a mood. I was unmotivated, cranky, and over all of it. Aaron suggested we go outside and walk around to get some fresh air. I was not ready for how deserted the city would be.

We live and work on one of the busiest streets in the city. We walked a couple of blocks down to our office and didn’t see anyone.

We walked around for almost an hour and everywhere we went we saw empty streets.

Chinatown is usually so busy you can barely walk down the sidewalk. Today, it was deserted.

Union Square is one of the most popular shopping districts in the Bay Area, and there wasn’t a person in site.

Market Street is so busy, they just closed a large section of it off so cars are no longer allowed. On a typical afternoon, this sidewalk would be full of people.

I’m so happy that the city of San Francisco is taking this seriously and staying inside when possible to stop the spread of COVID-19. I was just amazed at what I saw (and didn’t see) when we ventured out for some fresh air.