>> building a better bay area. moving forward. finding solutions. this is abc7 news. ♪ i'm kristen sze. you are watching "getting answers" on abc7. every day, we talk with experts about issues important to the bay area and we get answers for you in real time. today, you probably heard a lot about collagen supplements, you have friends that swear by their benefits on hair, skin, nails, but are they for real and are there are downsides? we will get the facts with a uc davis professor. memorial day weekend is this weekend. have you made your plans yet? we have the best travel deals to be found. but first, the future of san francisco's union square. for decades, it's been the retail heart of the city with

stores, majestic christmas tree, the ice rink, cable cars going by, union square defines san francisco's elegance, but lately it has struggled with major stores leaving and retail thefts and more. can union square be restored, and how? joining us to discuss the question and explore ideas is can ridge, the chief operating officer -- for the union square alliance -- ken ridge, operating officer for the union square alliance. you see a lot of headlines about stores that have left and the headlines nationwide. how is it actually doing right now? >> it's doing well. i'm looking out my it is a beautiful day. people are coming and going to the shops and restaurants. looks very similar to the way it always was. every day and every month, we've got more people on the

street. i think we are really coming back to something as good but may be a little different than it was before. kristen: it is true during the pandemic certainly dozens of stores have left. i think a quarter or almost a quarter of the retail space around union square is empty? >> that's about the right statistic. we see slightly different statistics depending on the source. but that's about where we are right now. it's better than we were a year ago. every month, it gets a little better. you have heard the news about stores leaving. but stores are also coming, as stores leave, which is true of any retail center, there is always turnover. we are seeing quite a bit of interest to come back. kristen: have you noticed a shift in the kind of stores that have left versus the ones that are coming in? fundamentally is a trance warming into something different? growing up it was always like, go to union square, if you have talked other to spend or enjoy windowshopping at the fancy clothes. is that what it is still?

is it becoming something different? >> we are in the middle -- the important point really is retail nationwide is shifting. it was starting to shift before covid and then covid happened and it through us into a little bit of a loop. you are seeing some of the larger stores leaving or have left. slower stores are coming in. we are really strong with our luxury. union square has always been a combination of mass-market and what we call luxury retailers. on the luxury end, we've got a rolex store coming, watchmaker, chanel is expanding, we are getting more restaurants, a yoga place, lori's diner's coming back. we are trying to mov u square into not just retail, although retail will always be er one but a place where w our r

industry is coming back. we've got 12,000 hotel rooms. i think we are evolving slowly into something recognizable, but just a little different in the future. kristen: how much was it that rent was just getting too high there? >> before covid, in 20-teens, rents for retail were higher than anyone in the west coast. there has been some correction. business owners are quicker to realize things have changed. rents are a little bit lower. they are still high for san francisco. one thing to remember is, even with lower foot traffic than before covid, unit square still has more foot traffic than probably any other place in san francisco. that still keeps our rents at a decently healthy level. kristen: you were talking about

national retail trends and foot traffic. how much is it people are so used to clicking and buying, shopping online, that they don't care to go to an in-person shopping district? >> there's a little bit of that. we do see brick-and-mortar versions. instead of coming and buying all the goods and taking them home with them, a lot of people will come and look and touch and it will get delivered -- they will go back online and get it from the same retailer. we have seen that. retail is going towards experiences. when you go downtown to shop, you expect to see -- you expect other things. now it is really the experience and we are trying to move things in that direction. kristen: you are right. when i go to a mall or shopping area it's not so much about buying things or merchandise, it is about buying an experience. you spend the whole day there.

the whole day was pleasant. talk about what kind of experiences you are bringing in. i heard something about concerts the mayor was talking about, festivals, what are you thinking? >> we have had some really cool events i will talk about in a minute. i want to mention there's a concert series we will be starting in the summer, that will be weekly concerts in union square, the park in the middle, the square. if you go to our website, vi you will see a listing of those concerts. we already have had an incredible event a month or two ago on tulip day. 35,000 people came and got their free tulips. just to get free flowers. they absolutely did. we also have an ongoing event called blooming onion square.

which kicked off on mother's day. where about 30 different stores, restaurants and hotels have blooms in their storefront. that will be ongoing until the fall. and there is a passport, as we call it, i have a little version here, it lists a bunch of places where you can see these floral exhibits and get special cocktails with a floral theme in various bars and restaurants, again on our website. you can find where all those are. kristen: i would've lined up for that, the tulips. no matter how you rule out -- roll out the red carpet, have to feel safe. since the very public smash and grab that made national

headlines, have things actually improved in that regard? >> things are so different. so, that was quite a while ago, and through the hard work of a bunch of people, including our ceo and the city and the police, we now have police. if you're in union square, you will absolutely see police walking around. there is a dedicated police command van that sits person -- sets permanently close, there it is. i've heard in the union square district, people feel pretty safe. and that is really due to the efforts of the mayor and the police chief and supervisor, everyone who has really stepped up to help us out here. kristen: before i let you go, i want to touch on a few things, if transportation improvements can be made. the last time i drove through their, it was very slow -- there, it was very slow.

there were bus lanes that were dedicated. cars were being chaotic around there. what do you see needing improvement transportation was? >> the thing to remember is we have three large garages in union square. we spent a lot of time particularly on the central one, the union square garage, making sure it is clean and safe for folks. they are reasonably it is not that hard to get here and park. to some extent, traffic is something we like to see because it means we are busy. but if you want to drive to union square, and park your car in the shopping district, it is not that difficult. we are right at the station, there lately -- which of you have not been there lately, the station has been fixed up. it's a really different experience than it was a couple of years ago. kristen: new life and new hopes of dreams -- and dreams for union square. ken ridge, thank you so much,

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same time next week? sure thing. kristen: collagen supplements are super popular. but to their promises of improved appearance and health actually pan out? are there things you should be aware of before jumping on the bandwagon? joining us is a professor of molecular exercise physiology at uc davis.

thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me. kristen: collagen supplements have been around for a while but they seem to be having a moment right now, haven't they? >> they have become one of the most popular supplements and it is growing faster by the minute it seems. kristen: help us understand, what is collagen? >> collagen is the most common protein in our body. it makes up everything from our skins -- our skin to our ligaments, cartilage in our kne because it is the most common protein in our body and over time as we get older we tend to decrease the amount of collagen that our bodies naturally produce, the idea behind collagen supplementation is to maybe give you some new building blocks to make collagen within your body. kristen: do you feel like most people actually need supplements as the age? -- they age? >> there is some evidence that says they can be useful for certain things.

e on studies looked at people's cartilage within their needs. they gave them about 10 g of collagen for 48 weeks. what they found is a cartilage within there and he a little bit thicker. that is going to help you deal with osteoarthritis or other kind of arthritic conditions within any. -- within the knee. kristen: what are the other reported benefits in terms of health, ligaments or joints, muscle mass? >> there are some reported benefits as far as muscle mass. but we don't know. . oson have not beens ll evaluated. a little bit of evidence in the skin. it can increase when you take dietary collagen. it has the potential to increase your -- the collagen stay, e hat will help your skin regenerate a little bit faster. most people who take collagen will notice their nails start growing a little bit faster. and the way we have looked at it

is, we have looked at it as, how can we stimulate collagen production? collagen is a moan -- collagen is the main protein in bones. and can we improve the function of those tissues? kristen: that is the million-dollar question. i definitely have a producer who swears by the collagen, saying her nails have definitely improved. not as much the hair. , but i have friends will talk about the here, too. i guess looking at all this, should i take it? what are the things you want them to consider? >> so, the biggest things the only things that we consider downsides, it is just a prote so just like any other protein, your body is going to break it down into the small building blocks, the amino acids that are cells can use to make me protein. the things we were about with collagen is where you get your collagen from. and there what we mean is, if you get your collagen from a bone source, lots of people will

have bone broth, it will get a collagen that comes from bone broth, the only thing we worry about there is, just like us, most animals store their heavy metals within their bones, so when you will that out, you are going to have higher amount of lead and copper and other heavy metals that potentially can cause problems. so what we tell people is, we tell people to look for collagen products that say they are from pelt or skin b is a thing that they are isolated from the skin. and that component of isolating from the skin is going to keep you away from heavy metals, which is the one thing that we kind of worry about with this, just because you are trying to keep those to a minimum. kristen: got it. i heard there's also vegan collagen now, too, right? >> well -- kristen: not sure how that

works. >> because collagen is a protein that is only really made in animals, what you can do -- what they are reporting to have for vegan collagen is different proteins that have some of the same amino acids we would normally find in collagen. the only difference is, they are not going to have some of the animal-specific -- animal specific modified amino acids. when our bodies make collagen, we as enzymes to modify to make some of the amino acids like licine into the vegan sources will not have those to the same degree. kristen: what about the form the supplement comes in? pill, powder, or effectiveness? >> we have not found that.

we have compared the collagen that has been broken down by a company within an enzyme, to gelatin which is the same stuff that we make our desserts with, to what i event it is made a combination of a jelly product and there was no real difference between them as long as you were always taking the collagen with a little bit of vitamin c. whenever we do our studies, we have people come in first thing in the morning, we feed them different colleges or different things, and then what we do is we add -- we add vitamin c. when you wake up, you have used all the vitamin c that you have. a lot of people like to put it into their coffee. when we put into our coffee, if we don't have a source of vitamin c, we will not have the stimulus to make more collagen. kristen: those are some great tips. a lot to think about, dr. keith baar. thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you very much for having me.

kristen: with lower gas prices and the need to get away, it's expected to be a record-setting travel weekend this memorial day weekend. but what if you are flying? up next, the founder of the travel site going will join us to share tips on how you can have a stress-free holiday.

kristen: memorial day marks the unofficial start of summer and for many of us it is a weekend to get away. aaa estimates 37 million americans are expected to hit the road this weekend. so where and when and where exactly are they going? joining us as the founder of going. an expert at finding cheap flights. thanks for joining us. >> my pleasure. thanks for having me. kristen: how is the travel industry doing right now? is it sort of kind of still in recovery mode or no longer? it's fully recovered? >> i would argue it is actually fully recovered at this point. it is not that everything is back to normal but it is largely a story of renormalization when

it comes to air travel, when it comes to road trips. you see gas prices down over a dollar a gallon compared to where they were 12 months ago, you see the number of people getting on an airplane now at or exceeding pre-pandemic levels. so for the first time since the pandemic began, you really see travel looking essentially like it did in 2019, which means as memorial day is coming up and summer travel's coming up, it's going to mean crowds and a lot of folks hitting the road. kristen: this wasn't the way i was going to take this conversation, but since you brought up the fact gas prices are down, why are airfares so high this summer? >> airfare is high this summer in part because it is the most popular time of year to travel, with school out, so many families, kids in school, they might only be able to travel around the academic calendar. when not funneling effect happens, you see a lot of -- a pretty big increase in airfare

compared to where it was a few months ago. so that is the bad news. the good news is, there are still deals to be had for folks who have not yet booked a trip but are still hoping to travel this summer. out of sfo right now, there are flights over to puerto rico for as little as $264 round-trip this summer, colombia for 306 a five dollars round-trip. there are flights available nonstop from sfo to fiji for $600 round-trip available for this summer. kristen: woah, in the summertime? can you give us general guidelines as to what period of the summer you might find the best deals and to which regions during that time period? >> certainly, the best -- summer flights are generally pretty expensive, but they are not equally expensive. you will generally see the most number of deals happening right at the beginning of summer and right at the end of summer.

often times airfare during the first weeks of june or the last two weeks of august can be as far as -- as much as 40% cheaper than airfare in july. if you are flexible, those are the types of summer to be targeting if you are hoping to get a good deal. as far as destinations, where we are seeing the most value right now, it is not europe. it was if he had booked those flights three or four months ago. but at this point, demand is up over 20% compared to pre-pandemic -- it is booming. instead, look to places like canada where travel is still down over 20% from 2019. flights available right now out of sfo to canada are as little as $282 round-trip, places in the caribbean, puerto rico, the u.s. virgin islands are seeing a lot of deals this summer. or places like aruba. that is where you are finding the most deals one talking about international travel this summer. kristen: if the best deals tend to be booking with airlines directly with the hotel

directly,, perhaps booking as a package deal with the airline, through some other, kayak, expedia, where do you find the best deals? >> generally speaking, you will see about the same rate no matter where you book. there is no one place that always has the cheapest airfare or the cheapest place to book. generally you will see the same price whether you are booking through an online travel agency or directly with the airline. the best practice typically to start out searching on one of the comparison sites like expedia or google flights to find the best deal is -- where the best deal is. what if the fair is the same -- fare is the same, book it directly with the airline. not only do you get certain federal protections, including something called the 24 hour rule, which gives you a 24 hour grace period to cancel the flight and get a full cash refund, but it makes it a lot simpler if you have to change your flight for any reason if

you book directly through the airline rather than have to do it through a middleman. kristen: what about memorial day, this weekend coming up? it's going to be very busy out there. give us some advice for the tsa lines that may be long, any possible delays, how to pack, what of it -- if it gets lost? >> expect there to be long lines. we've seen some of the busiest single days since the pandemic began. over 2.6 million people per day. getting on flights in the u.s.. there's always a the standard advice of showing up to the airport early and expect for there to be long lines. one of the things you can do for yourself -- i will give you two pieces of advice, one, if at all possible, skip checking a bag, not only will you not have to stand in line but if your flight does get delayed or you miss a connection or something, it is far easier to switch to a new flight if they don't have to also try to find your checked bag and switch it to another.

i've got a couple of young kids, my days of checking bags and are over. airlines have essentially gotten rid of change fees, if you have not booked a basic economy flight. if you are inclined, switching to a morning flight, you see on-time arrivals at our 25 percentage points higher than flights in the afternoon or evening. that is because the weather is better in the morning and because the aircraft, the plane is already sitting at the airport ready to go for you in the morning. kristen: great information as always. thank you so much. we will take a short break

kris quick's the headline as we come on the air. the debt ceiling talks. time running out on a deal to raise the debt limit with the u.s. set to default in days. mary bruce on the meeting between ann mccarthy. the dramatic moments in court. the suspect charged with murdering four students in the courtroom with the families looking on today. the warning tonight about shark attacks already.thfirst great we season spotted off cape cod and where they spotted another great white they have been tracking off