The potential:
- when the government started boosting the economy toward the end of the depression, they did so by putting people to work building roads and infrastructure. I hope that starts happening soon ... wide roads with wide, sealed shoulders for cyclists and wide, easy-access sidewalks for pedestrians
- now that we know we can work from home and attend university from home, I hope people involved in technology will develop and enhance those options. I envision a move away from big buildings for work and university and a more distributed approach.
- I hope for a shift away from big cities to smaller communities that have what we need within walking or cycling distance so that large groups of people don't have to gather in one spot.
- businesses will need to step up their game and stop being so complacent. They'll need to get up to date with technology ... people aren't interested in a business if there isn't a good website. Why would we waste our time going to a place if we don't know if the place has what we need? They'll need to clean! Especially restaurants and accommodations etc. They'll need to focus on delivery.
- now that we know being dirty is bad, hopefully there will be a big push to develop self-cleaning things, easy to clean environments, and to hire people to "deep clean".
- I hope a culture where it is socially acceptable to maintain some distance between us develops. Where it is not socially acceptable to touch people we don't know.
- I also hope for increased independence. We can indeed spend days by ourselves, doing our own thing, entertaining ourselves, making our own decisions. We can think for ourselves. We don't need to do everything in groups.
- I'm also hoping for advances in medicine. Right now scientists all over the world are working on a vaccine for a coronavirus. The common cold is a coronavirus, but not nearly as serious as COVID-19 of course. Perhaps if a vaccine for COVID-19 can be developed, we might also have a vaccine for the common cold! And often, along the way to finding a particular solution, other solutions are found "by accident".
- I'm interested to see what changes there will be to housing ... like sinks or 2-piece toilets right next to the front door so that people can wash when they come into a house.
- Maybe there will be more open air developments rather than closed in places ... in business and at home. There has been some evidence that good ventilation and/or being outside puts people at less risk of catching COVID-19. Maybe houses will have large back decks. Maybe decentralised offices (as mentioned earlier) will also have large decks or courtyard areas where people can meet, eat, work etc. and windows that open. Maybe malls will become more popular ... these are where streets are closed to motor vehicles and the "road" is left in open air but there are shops on either side.
- I'm curious about changes to fashion ... will hoop skirts come back in? great puffy sleeves? hats? veils?
These things need to become commonplace ... and more. I'm sure we can think of more along those lines we'd like to see.
