What’s going on with remote work and cities? How are things changing?
I saw a lot of people move to cheaper places once the pandemic happened. Are people choosing having a house/stability over city living? Were bars/restaurants/events/general downtown things just something people cared about since they were “forced” to be in the city anyway (either commuting there or choosing to live near work)?
We’ve been seeing workplaces start to force people back to the office for a little while now too. Is part of this to encourage spending money in the local economy?
Personally I’m hybrid and enjoy living near the downtown of my city, but I also hate being forced into the office so it had me thinking about all these questions and how these values could effectively coexist.
We’re kind of the opposite of that trend, we’re moving smack dab into the middle of downtown.
Our last two apartments were farther from downtown to save on rent and have an easier commute. For us, it hasn’t been worth it; it’s been the worst of both worlds. All the readily-available housing is still soulless corporate apartment complexes but without the nearby amenities. You have to drive to get anywhere and, as someone that hates driving, it’s a considerable deterrent (not to mention expensive, inconvenient, etc.). And since I only go into work once a week, the gentler commute is basically a nonissue.
I’m looking forward to being able to walk places and perfectly happy to have a longer-than-ideal public transit commute since it’s only 1-2x a week. It’d be a harder decision if I was going in every day.
I get the driving thing so much! Even right now I schedule my errands for outside of rush hour because driving through traffic is just draining.
My suburban friends are used to it, but as someone who has lived suburban and in/around downtown, I much prefer the random walkable trips.