Three years after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic emptied them, America’s downtowns are still hurting. White-collar workers are only back in their offices about half the time — and far less on Monday or Friday. Many businesses that service those workers have closed up shop. Between 2019 and 2022, office rents in Manhattan fell about 14 percent, according to recent reporting from Axios. In San Francisco, office rents are down by more than twice that.
There’s an…