On March 10, 2020, Harvard students awoke to an email they would never forget. That morning, the university announced that students would be required to pack their belongings and vacate their residences no later than March 15. In the span of those five harrowing days, tens of thousands of students, faculty, staff, and other affiliates said goodbye — for some, for their last time — to Cambridge, the city that had become their home.
That week commenced a barrage of stories about the novel coronavirus, its list of victims metastasizing by the hour: first Tom Hanks, then the National Basketball Association, until no corner of the country remained untouched. It became immediately clear that the casualties of the pandemic would include not only the lives of millions of Americans and the resources of public health systems across the country, but also small and local businesses — the heart and soul of the United States economy. Streets and neighborhoods in Cambridge that had once been dotted with students, tourists, and residents alike quickly became ghost towns. Whether these businesses would remain open to greet the same people they had passionately served for years became a profound uncertainty.
Hundreds of thousands of small businesses across the country have closed since the beginning of the pandemic. Countless others remain on the brink of bankruptcy. In Cambridge, beloved haunts like Cafe Pamplona and Dickson Bros., pictured above, closed down — permanently.
In the throes of the coronavirus pandemic, small businesses across the country desperately sought to stay financially afloat, attempting a range of methods to safely serve customers, including curbside pickup and expanded delivery service. Despite these measures, many struggled to remain open.
Local businesses in Cambridge were hit particularly hard, as the thousands of students that had been some of their most loyal customers were now scattered across the globe, languishing in their childhood bedrooms.
Efforts to combat the virus remained unsteady. Reopenings of businesses often became false starts and were quickly replaced with lockdowns to stem the multiple waves of exponentially rising virus case counts.
For over a year now, empty streets and empty storefronts have remained common sights.
Many businesses have been threatened with bankruptcy and closure.
Some may never come back.
As the worst of the pandemic gradually began to dissipate, glimmers of hope began to appear. Scientists learned more about the virus. An unprecedented global herculean effort to develop a vaccine treatment succeeded. Society gradually re-opened. Revenues and foot traffic crawled back up.
In early 2021, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker lifted all restrictions on seating capacities for restaurants and other businesses in the state. Cambridge residents slowly returned to storefronts.
But for many businesses which, prior to the pandemic, already operated on thin margins and struggled to stay afloat amidst rising rent pressures, even the gradual resurgence in customers provided little recourse.
The lingering effects of the pandemic may have untold consequences for years to come. These struggles will far outlast the fleeting students, tourists, and passersby whose time in Cambridge is undoubtedly homely, but nonetheless temporary.
What have we lost? And how will we recover?
