The rise of remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic didn’t just hurt downtown office spaces, their ground-floor coffee shops and surrounding businesses.

New research from Northeastern University finds that the impact on commerce — from gas stations to entertainment venues — extended far beyond central districts.

“The three main ingredients for a business historically are location, location, location — or the idea that the success of a business depends on what is close by,” says Esteban Moro, professor of physics and part of the Network Science Program at Northeastern. “But our findings challenge that traditional emphasis on proximity.”

Read more from Northeastern Global News.

Illustration by Renee Zhang/Northeastern University