Welcome to Zoom Town, USA
Apr 13, 2021

Welcome to Zoom Town, USA

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Small towns, inundated with remote workers during the pandemic, have come to be known as "Zoom towns." Also on today's show: Why inflation numbers are gonna be wonky for awhile, and what happened to America's public toilets.

Segments From this episode

Why there's a flood of new stock market investors

Apr 13, 2021
This explosion didn’t happen just because everyone was stuck at home. It started before the pandemic.
New retail investors could have a good shot at growing their savings if they take a long term approach.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Institutional investors are stiff competition for homebuyers

Apr 13, 2021
A report estimates that 1 in 5 homes sold in the U.S. goes to an institution like a pension or sovereign wealth fund.
The added competition for so few houses is further driving up prices for everyone.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

After a year on the PPP front lines, a community banker is seeing confidence return

Apr 13, 2021
PPP loans have produced great results, says Seattle banker Laurie Stewart. She's optimistic about demand rising without inflation.
The interior of the Woolly Mammoth shoe store in Seattle, where Laurie Stewart's Sound Community Bank is based.
Karen Ducey/Getty Images

Both passengers and drivers are feeling better about ride-sharing

Apr 13, 2021
Uber just had its best month ever. "We're seeing ride demand track closely with vaccination rates," Lyft's president told us.
More and more people getting vaccinated and having places to go, and they need some way to get there.
Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images

What happened to America’s public toilets?

Apr 13, 2021
In an excerpt from her new book, science journalist Chelsea Wald writes on the unintended result of a movement to ban pay toilets.
In her new book, “Pipe Dreams: The Urgent Global Quest to Transform the Toilet,” Chelsea Wald explores the problem and promise of toilet technology.
Christof Koepsel/Getty Images

California "Zoom town" grapples with influx of remote workers

Apr 13, 2021
Truckee's newcomers boost the local economy, but long-term residents see rising prices and a culture clash.
A street in Truckee, California. Since the pandemic hit, the mountain town has become a destination for remote workers, who've brought higher prices and increased congestion.
Matt Levin/Marketplace

Music from the episode

Sundress Butcher Brown
Pretty Pimpin Kurt Vile
Sin Rumbo Panoptica Orchestra
1977 Ana Tijoux

The team

Nancy Farghalli Executive Producer
Maria Hollenhorst Producer II
Sean McHenry Director & Associate Producer II