The last two years have had a huge impact on various sectors of the economy as the pandemic turned everyone's world upside down.
It has also led to an unexpected upturn for much of the housing market, and a surge in so-called 'staycations'.
Lowestoft is an area that is now bouncing back as various sectors of its economy look towards a brighter 2022.
The pandemic has accelerated changes to the UK's high street.
Danny Steel, of Steel & Co believes Lowestoft's high street will evolve, rather than die out but that planners need to be mindful of changes to the town centre.
"We need to accept that the traditional high street is changing, we need to adapt to those changes. We need to embrace the change," he said.
"In my opinion, the continental model is the way forward.
"In Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, Italy, and other countries the high street is the centre for service business with little retail.
"Restaurants, bars, cafes, hairdressers, nail bars, doctors, dentists, solicitors, accountants, estate agents, are all to be found in the town centre but also the first and second floors above these business are flats occupied by families.
"The high street becomes a living breathing community and is therefore sustainable.
"Mainstream retail is out of town or online, but specialist retail still flourishes in the town centre. This is the future of our town centre as I see it.
"Planners need to be mindful of the change in our town centres and not block change of use applications for little or no good reason."
As an ambassador for the town and someone who is very much involved in championing improvement to the area, Danny Steel was interviewed by the Lowestoft Journal and gave his views in an article on which this blog post is based. You can read the full the full article at https://www.lowestoftjournal.co.uk/news/lowestoft-2022-housing-tourism-nightlife-8613990
Picture credit: Nick Butcher
