The 10 US Cities Best and Worst Positioned to Recover from the Coronavirus

The coronavirus pandemic has impacted cities across the country with varying force. New York City has been hardest hit, and it’s no secret that the Big Apple is going to be one of the places that will have the most challenging time bouncing back from the coronavirus pandemic, no matter when things subside. But which cities will have the best coronavirus recovery? And which other cities will struggle? Moody’s Analytics has issued a report that examines the potential to recover from coronavirus among the top 100 metro areas in the US—and while some of the results are to be expected, some are more surprising.

“The most dynamic recoveries may well bypass traditional powerhouses and take place instead in areas that either were or were poised to lead the way in 2020 before everything changed,” writes Adam Kamins, senior regional economist at Moody’s Analytics and the author of the report.

Moody’s grouped the 10 cities best positioned to recover quickly from the coronavirus pandemic and the 10 cities with the worst chance of recovering from the coronavirus pandemic. “Note that they are sorted alphabetically in order to avoid assigning false precision to our calculations,” Kamins told Forbes Women.

Top 10: Cities Best-Positioned to Recover From Coronavirus

(Note: These are alphabetically sorted—not listed in order)

Boise, Idaho

Denver, Colorado

Durham, North Carolina

Madison, Wisconsin

Provo, Utah

Raleigh, North Carolina

Salt Lake City, Utah

San Jose, California

Tucson, Arizona

Washington DC

Bottom 10: Cities Worst-Positioned to Recover From Coronavirus

(Note: These are alphabetically sorted—not listed in order)

Detroit, Michigan

Honolulu, Hawaii

Los Angeles, California

McAllen, Texas

Miami, Florida

New Haven, Connecticut

New York City

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Stockton, California

Tampa, Florida

Go to Educated Minds to learn more about how this data was collected.

Related Links

• What motivates people to choose where they live?

• Housing rebound? To get a home In these cities you’d have to win a bidding war.

• Prefab sheds you can buy right now that will change your life.

FHFA Announces Refinance and Home Purchase Eligibility for Borrowers in Forbearance

​​​​​Washington, D.C. – Today, to support borrowers and mortgage servicers, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises)  have issued temporary guidance regarding the eligibility of borrowers who are in forbearance, or have recently ended their forbearance, looking to refinance or buy a new home.

Borrowers are eligible to refinance or buy a new home if they are current on their mortgage (i.e. in forbearance but continued to make their mortgage payments or reinstated their mortgage). Borrowers are eligible to refinance or buy a new home three months after their forbearance ends and they have made three consecutive payments under their repayment plan, or payment deferral option or loan modification. 

"Homeowners who are in COVID-19 forbearance but continue to make their mortgage payment will not be penalized," said Director Mark Calabria. "Today's action allows homeowners to access record low mortgage rates and keeps the mortgage market functioning as efficiently as possible."

FHFA is also extending the Enterprises previously announced ability to purchase single-family mortgages in forbearance. The Enterprises are now able to buy forborne loans, with note dates on or before June 30, 2020, as long as they are delivered to the Enterprises by August 31, 2020 and where only one mortgage payment has been missed. The previous policy was set to expire on May 31, 2020.

FHFA and the Enterprises will continue to monitor the impact of the coronavirus national emergency on the housing finance market and update our policies as necessary. To understand the protections and assistance the government is offering people having trouble paying their mortgage, please visit the joint Department of Housing and Urban Development, FHFA, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau website at cfpb.gov/housing​.​

To read more, go to the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Related Links

• New luxury markets to watch in 2020

• Will smaller cities see a boom from the coronavirus?

• Weekly mortgage applications point to a remarkable recovery in homebuying.

Downtown Denver Partnership Proposes Closing Some City Streets so Businesses can Expand Outside

A new proposal from one of Denver's largest business advocacy organizations suggests halting vehicle access to select streets downtown, allowing restaurants and retailers to expand their services outdoors during the coronavirus pandemic.

In a letter sent to Denver Mayor Michael Hancock the week of May 4, Downtown Denver Partnership requested that the city create an accelerated process to allow for business districts, as well as individual property owners and managers, to submit applications to close some streets in "key downtown and neighborhood commercial districts."

DDP says in the letter that the proposal would allow more retailers and restaurants to reopen safely with social distancing measures in place to curb the spread of the disease, acknowledging that not all restaurants and retailers have the existing space to accommodate social distancing restrictions.

Closing certain streets would also allow pedestrians to more safely keep their distance from each other, and enable other programming features such as seating or landscaping, DDP says in the letter.

Tami Door, president and CEO of DDP, pointed out that such closures wouldn't exactly be new for downtown. Denver has seen occasional closures at Larimer Square, 16th Street Mall and Glenarm Place, among others, for festivals or events.

"There's good data and history for why these are valuable," Door told Denver Business Journal.

But the latest proposal, if adopted in some form by the City of Denver, would likely take place over a longer period of time and under far different circumstances. DDP's letter to Mayor Hancock cites dire statistics for the restaurant sector, noting that Denver restaurants reported on average a 76% year-over-year drop in sales in April.

Colorado's current "safer-at-home" order mandates that restaurants and bars continue to offer food and beverages only for off-premise consumption, as they have been doing since March 17, although Gov. Jared Polis said May 11 he hopes to have in-restaurant dining by the end of the month.

Door told DBJ the recent letter was a follow-up to another letter DDP sent to the Mayor's office in mid-April to begin discussions around expanding restaurant service outside.

"Healthy ground-floor businesses create healthy neighborhoods," Door said. "I think that people understood that immediately. They certainly understood why restaurants need to thrive."

"Operating at 25% capacity of our seating is not even a consideration," Gruitch said. "It's not realistic."

"I think that's where the balancing comes into play," Door said. "You don't close every street in the city. You look at where it provides the most value comprehensively."

DDP is recommending a pilot period for the program beginning Memorial Day and lasting through Oct. 31, with allowances for a continuation beyond the pilot period in areas where it's been deemed successful. Door said that timeline is meant to align with Denver's weather, and to allow time for the program to be adjusted.

DDP is also asking the city to require each location to submit an application to establish a managing entity, provide written support from businesses in the area and give details on how the street closure would work.

To read more, go to the Denver Business Journal.

Anxiety About the End of Coronavirus Lockdown is More Common than You Think

With everyone else stuck at home, there's no FOMO to lure you out of bed for a Sunday brunch when you'd really rather sleep in.

Without a chatty co-worker at the desk next to you, your productivity is way up — and honestly, the WFH set-up is more than functional. As certain states begin to emerge from coronavirus lockdown, some people are anxious as they prepare for post-quarantine life, after finding that a quieter, slower pace at home is really working for them.

Claire, 32, is struggling with conflicting feelings of grief and joy regarding re-entry. "The thought of the world opening back up again is giving me a lot of relief, but also anxiety — it feels like I'm being forced out of this sacred nest that we’ve created here where there are no social obligations or expectations, just time to be together," she tells Bustle. She adds that post-quarantine, she'll need an adjustment period before she is ready to put anything on her calendar again.

Of course, no one wants coronavirus to keep raging across the country, necessitating continued lockdowns. But after two months in quarantine, people are starting to realize that their lifestyle and values are more aligned than ever.

Not everyone has found quarantine life to be "enlightening," and it has "exacerbated if not caused mental health symptoms" in many, Fleck says. But for those who find themselves anxious about returning to their normal lives, Fleck points to the psychological benefits of focusing on the present and learning to accept your life as it is, without judgment. "Solitude and mindfulness can be antidotes for FOMO and dis-ease," she says. These practices, Fleck adds, can temper our innate drive to keep up with what we see on Instagram.

Although forced isolation might make it easy to slow down, it's not the only way to practice mindfulness. You don't need to be in the middle of a pandemic in order to carve out time to connect with loved ones or to relax at home. "For those who find themselves reluctant to return to the unrealistic demands and sensory overload that seem to define normal life at times, my advice is simple: don't." Instead, Fleck suggests approaching post-lockdown life with intention. Pledge to turn down work-week plans or to spend weekends alone. Keep cooking or going on long walks or whatever is giving you peace right now. And as we slowly move back towards our old lives, it's important to remember that nothing will be the same. "Allow yourself to be changed by the changes you've endured," Fleck adds.

To read the full article, go to Bustle.

Related Links

• Create a more private backyard with landscaping

• New home listings were nearly cut in half in April nationwide

• Could COVID-19 become a driving force of Millennial homeownership?

How to File for Unemployment in Colorado

The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment on Monday will begin accepting applications for the new pandemic unemployment assistance program that extends benefits to a range of previously uncovered workers and people affected by the COVID-19 outbreak.

It will also begin paying out the $600 per week in expanded benefits to unemployed people. Both programs were funded through the CARES Act, according to the Denver Post.

The update — which has been eagerly awaited by self-employed people, independent contractors and people who depended on gig work for their income — will make Colorado among the first states to start paying benefits created by the massive federal stimulus bill, state officials said Friday.

After creating a new claims system independent from the one that processes applications for Colorado’s standard unemployment insurance program, the labor department is hopeful it will be able to handle the needs of the expanded worker groups.

It not clear how many people will apply. More than 231,000 Coloradans have applied for unemployment support in the past four weeks as the new coronavirus causes unprecedented damage to the world economy.

“We don’t know what the volume will look like into our new system because not only do we not know how many gig workers are out there, we don’t know how many of them will apply for unemployment,” Joe Barela, the state labor department’s executive director, said in a news release. “But we have expanded tools and on Monday will have systems in place to begin taking these applications and provide other resources.”

Pandemic unemployment payments can be backdated to Feb. 2, according to Jeff Fitzgerald, the state’s unemployment insurance director. Applicants are being asked to provide their 2018 or 2019 tax returns.

Once people apply, Fitzgerald expects processing to take about 24 hours, then those approved for benefits will be able to request payments for prior weeks. Within a few business days, people should have access to money either through direct deposit into their bank accounts or via a state-issued debit card. Direct deposit is the fastest way to access the money, Fitzgerald said.

Keep reading on the Denver Post.

About Unemployment Insurance

People can receive pandemic unemployment support for up to 39 weeks, 13 weeks longer than the state’s system typically allows. Those who have recently run out of state benefits are being instructed to continue requesting payments every two weeks through the state’s system until the extended support kicks in. Those who have used all of their benefits and stopped requesting payments may have to open new claims through the pandemic unemployment system, state officials say.In order to qualify for benefits, you must have lost your job through no fault of your own (for example a layoff, reduction in hours, or reduction in pay not related to performance). We will contact your previous employer(s) to help determine whether or not you may qualify.

Quitting Your Job

You have the right to leave a job for any reason at any time, but the circumstances of the separation will determine if and when you will receive benefits.

Discharged or Other Reasons

You may still be eligible for payment if you were discharged from your job. A partial list of qualifying separation reasons includes:

• domestic violence

• personal harassment by the employer not related to the job performance

• hazardous working conditions

• medical conditions

We will review the circumstances of your job separation to determine if you are eligible for benefits.

Legal Presence Requirements

Colorado law requires all persons 18 years and older to provide proof that they are lawfully present in the United States before receiving unemployment benefits. You must provide one of the following forms of identification (ID):

• Valid Colorado driver's license or a valid Colorado ID card.

• United States military ID card or a military dependent ID card.

• United States Coast Guard Merchant Mariner card.

• Native American tribal document.

• Valid driver's license or ID card issued by another state or Canada. U.S. Passport

Before filing a claim, estimate your potential payments.

Contact the Colorado Division of Unemployment Insurance

Colorado Division of Unemployment Insurance | 303-318-9000 | Contact Us