1 big thing: Big cities roar back
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Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
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New York, San Francisco and L.A. are coming back strong after the pandemic, solidifying their economic dominance for the future, Axios' Erica Pandey writes. - Why it matters: As the pandemic emptied downtowns and normalized telework, experts speculated that it would loosen superstar coastal cities' grip on the economy.
Actually, home sales are at their highest level in over a decade in Manhattan. San Francisco's market remains hot, with homes consistently selling above asking price. - Yes, Americans moved during
the pandemic. But the vast majority of those moves were within metro
areas, so the economic might of the big cities remains relatively
unchanged.
- "The pandemic just stretched the bounds of metro areas," says Richard Florida, an urbanist at the University of Toronto.
Of the 1.4 million moves out of the New York metro area in 2020, just 37,000 of them were to the heartland or Mountain states, Brookings found in an analysis of Postal Service address change requests, - Of 1.1 million moves
out of Los Angeles, just 72,000 were to the middle of the country. Of
500,000 out of the Bay Area, 27,000 were to the heartland.
️ Restaurant traffic is roaring back in the top cities: - Bay Area restaurant traffic has
jumped by 192% since the start of 2021, leading major cities, according
to data from the marketing software and analytics firm Zenreach.
- Also dominant are Los Angeles (161% increase), New York (132%), Chicago (131%) and Boston (123%).
⚠️ Two metrics tell a different story: - Unemployment is high in superstar cities. About
13% of America's unemployed people are concentrated in New York, L.A.
and Chicago, three cities that together only account for 4.6% of the
nation's population. That's mostly due to the huge hit retail and food
service jobs took in the big metros.
- Office vacancy rates are also high. Vacancy rates in previously busy business districts in New York and San Francisco have hit all-time highs of over 20% and are well above national averages.
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2. What it's like to hail an air taxi
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The Brooklyn Bridge (center) and Manhattan Bridge (left), as seen
from a Blade helicopter. Photo: Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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Axios transportation correspondent Joann Muller tried out Blade Urban Air Mobility's helicopter service from Manhattan to JFK Airport. - The trip — five minutes in the air, then a 20-minute ride to the curb at her terminal — cost $195.
- That compares to 1 hour, 13 minutes it would have taken midday in an Uber, which quoted a fare of $111 (or $142 for an Uber Black car).
Here's Joann's tale: On the Blade app, I typed in what time I wanted to arrive at the airport, and the app scheduled my seat. - The Blade West lounge is in a trailer next to the Hudson River at 30th Street and 12th Avenue.
- When it was time to board, the
Blade staff escorted me and another passenger to the whirring chopper,
where we buckled into our leather seats, put on headsets and took off.
- We headed south over
the Hudson, around the tip of Manhattan, and then flew over Brooklyn to
Queens, where we landed at the Sheltair general aviation facility at
JFK.
- I was escorted off the helicopter to a
waiting Cadillac Escalade, where the driver already had my flight
information and took me straight to my terminal.
What's next: Electric flying taxis will soon zip over choked highways, ferrying you among a network of "vertiports" around the city.
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3. Inside the opening ceremony
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Photo: Ina Fried/Axios
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The Olympics opening ceremony (7 a.m. ET, live on NBC) feels more like a dress rehearsal than the real thing, Axios' Ina Fried writes from Tokyo. - At the stadium entrance,
curious Japanese citizens peer through a metal fence to get a glimpse
of those allowed inside. Members of the media peer out, equally curious,
with many getting their closest look yet at the general public.
International media are barred from using public transit, visiting restaurants and shops, or even interviewing members of the public. - Japanese people not
only can't go to Olympic events, but have been discouraged from public
gatherings in general and urged to stay home and watch the Games on TV,
much like the rest of the world.
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First lady Jill Biden meets Japan Emperor Naruhito at the Imperial Palace today. Photo: Cabinet Secretariat via Reuters Go deeper ... First
lady Jill Biden in a "Dear Olympians" letter to Team USA: "Your journey
to Tokyo likely started at a young age, the first time you picked up a
ball or jumped in the water."
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A message from Amazon
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Amazon ranked as the No. 1 U.S. company investing in America
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The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) ranked Amazon as the No. 1 U.S. company investing in America.
Why it’s important: PPI estimates Amazon invested $34 billion in U.S. infrastructure in 2020. Every Amazon job comes with a starting wage of $15/hr and comprehensive benefits. Learn more.
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4. Olympics unite U.S.
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Data: Momentive. Chart: Danielle Alberti/Axios Americans, who split on nearly everything, will still rally around Team USA in the Summer Games that open today, an Axios/Momentive poll shows. - But we're sharply divided
over whether athletes should use the Olympic stage to protest. Young
adults are more likely than older adults to approve of protests, and
less likely to feel pride in the U.S. flag, Axios World editor Dave Lawler writes.
The race for medals could take on a Cold War flavor, with a large number of Americans rooting against China. - "Even if Americans view
the Olympics as a sports event above all else, they have undoubtedly
internalized some of the geopolitical drama of recent years," said Laura
Wronski of Momentive (formerly SurveyMonkey).
We asked 5,169 U.S. adults what
they expect to feel when they see the Stars and Stripes fluttering in
Tokyo, whether it matters if the U.S. wins the most medals, and which
countries they'll root for or against. - Americans are evenly split over social-justice protests. But there’s a vast partisan divide: 79% of Republicans disapprove while 77% of Democrats approve.
- Black (72%) and Hispanic (59%) respondents were also far more likely to approve than white respondents (40%).
Nearly one in four Americans (23%) say they'll be rooting against athletes from China. - There's a pretty big partisan split: 34% of Republicans will be rooting against them, compared to 16% of Democrats.
- Republicans are also
far more likely than Democrats to root against athletes from Iran (34%
vs. 14%), and somewhat more likely to root against Russian athletes (29%
vs. 20%).
Americans are more likely to be
cheering for neighbors and allies like Canada (39% for, 8% against),
Mexico (30% for, 10% against), the U.K. (35% for, 8% against) and the
hosts, Japan (27% for, 11% against).
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5. Social powerhouses cash in as America reopens
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Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios
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Snapchat and Twitter both reported record revenue growth for the second quarter yesterday, thanks to a booming ad market, Axios Media Trends author Sara Fischer writes. - Why it matters: High user growth also suggests that people will continue to rely on social media as the pandemic shifts daily habits.
Snapchat reported its highest revenue and user growth numbers since 2018. Twitter's revenue grew 74% year-over-year for the quarter, its highest year-over-year growth period in seven years. - Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel said more than 200 million users now engage with augmented reality on the platform each day.
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6. ️ 2024 watch: DeSantis raises heavily out of state
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Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
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Almost half of the money to re-elect Florida Gov.
Ron DeSantis is coming from outside the state, with more people donating
from outside Florida than in, Selene San Felice writes in Axios Tampa Bay. - The Friends of Ron DeSantis PAC
has more than $44.5 million on hand. 47% of the PAC's donations this
year — $17 million of $36.7 million — came from 6,929 out-of-state
donors.
Why it matters: It's gasoline on the fire of a possible presidential run.
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7. New Mexico dispatch: America's Communion crisis
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President Biden leaves St. Joseph on the Brandywine Catholic Church
in Wilmington on June 19, the day after U.S. bishops challenged him over
support for abortion rights. Photo: Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty
Images
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A New Mexico Democrat denied Communion over his vote to advance abortion protections told Axios' Russell Contreras he won't be bullied, and looks forward to receiving Communion with President Biden one day. - Why it matters: The
example set by State Sen. Joseph Cervantes comes as blue states move to
protect abortion rights should the conservative Supreme Court overturn
or erode Roe v. Wade.
Cervantes said other parishes and another diocese in New Mexico have offered to give him Communion, highlighting the split in the U.S. - The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops clarified
last month there will be "no national policy on withholding Communion
from politicians," following threats that Catholic public figures,
including President Biden, could be denied Communion.
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8. 1 smile to go: What about me?
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Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images
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D'oh! Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) raised her
hand yesterday when President Biden ran out of souvenir pens while
signing the VOCA Fix to Sustain the Crime Victims Fund Act of 2021.
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A message from Amazon
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Watch what happened when Amazon raised their starting wage to $15/hr
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Amazon saw the need to do more than the federal minimum wage of $7.25/hour.
In 2018, they established a $15/hour starting wage, and they’ve seen the positive impact it’s had on their employees and their families first-hand. Learn more about the company’s benefits. |
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