Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Why isn't remote work advertised as a pro environment initiative?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

261–270 of 508 posts

Re: Ask HN: Why isn't remote work advertised as a pro environment initiative?

#261

Post by heurist »

MarcoSanto wrote: post #230
ibejoeb wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't intend to de-rail the convo, but this is an important one. > improve inter-family relationships It could , maybe, but it can also be a significant source of strife. It's tough spending all day, every day with someone. Because of that, you find that people are either looking for larger homes in order to have private work spaces or renting office space. Both of those shift the cost burden from the company to th…

This. FFS who wants to stay home to live and work!?!? I don’t understand WFH. the right way is to have better public transport and cheaper housing, not secluded lives.

In my current house, my commute would be 1 hour each way if I wasn't working from home. I'd be leaving early and getting home late. I'd have no time with my wife, son, pets. No time for housework/extra projects. I did this commute prior to having a kid and it worked then, but it wouldn't work now.

Re: Ask HN: Why isn't remote work advertised as a pro environment initiative?

#262

Post by lotsofpulp »

elijaht wrote: post #219
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in Western Suffolk County. I never commuted to the City, but many of my friends do. Driving is 90 minutes, if you leave at 5AM. Train is 2 hours (including in-city time). Many folks commute from even farther East. Please don’t tell me that I’m “insane.” I would never have done that commute, myself, but have lived here for over 30 years, and have seen (with my own little eyes), people doing this every day.

I did not call you insane- that was another commenter. I also don't doubt there are long commutes. However, I will assert that that is not the typical experience in New York, or elsewhere. No one in my at-work peer group has a commute that long, and no one in my outside-of-work friend group has a commute that long.

Does your peer group have kids and earns enough to buy a house in a suburb of NYC?

Without kids, there is no reason for the commute. But putting kids in an upscale suburban neighborhood with other kids of similar earning parents is the reason that I saw people put up with that commute.

Re: Ask HN: Why isn't remote work advertised as a pro environment initiative?

#263

Post by b3morales »

Spivak wrote: post #213
neutronicus wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, so the main road will have a Starbucks off it

I mean yes and. There's an entire industry of restaurants that cater to providing food to workers in business districts. They move to where the people are. I don't think suburban neighborhoods having hyperlocal businesses would ever be considered a bad thing.

The restaurants are there and successful because of the density, though. The falafel shop around the corner from three multi-storey office buildings can't afford to have a location in every suburb that formerly sent workers to the business district.

There's existing evidence for this: how many restaurants do you see in standalone office parks? A few perhaps, but nothing like what's downtown.

Re: Ask HN: Why isn't remote work advertised as a pro environment initiative?

#264

Post by TigeriusKirk »

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #145
osigurdson wrote: post #122

There is nothing more illogical in modern society than commuting to an office every day. Employees waste 2 of their 16 available waking hours in the non-productive commute while incurring significant financial costs (lease/insurance/fuel/energy) in order to support this patently absurd activity. Employers waste time and energy negotiating leases, re-arranging offices, purchasing AV equipment for meeting rooms, etc.,…

> Employees waste 2 of their 16 I suspect that you don't commute to a large city (either via car or mass transit). It's more like 4-6 hours. Crazy.

For a while in Los Angeles I had a commute of around an hour each way. Even in that sprawling eternal traffic jam of a city, my friends and coworkers considered my commute to be notably long.

Re: Ask HN: Why isn't remote work advertised as a pro environment initiative?

#265

Post by idontpost »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #246
Jenk wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also incredibly lonely at times - despite being constantly surrounded by people - which I figure can warp your mind much like too much solitary confinement can. I don't say this from personal experience (un)fortunately, I say this as someone who has a family member that is a confidant of a billionaire from the middle-east (whom I'll refer to as Bob.) The family member is one of their close staff - travels with t…

>Maids, servers, and other staff are stealing things all the time - Bob maintains and reviews an inventory of stolen property with his security detail, with monthly targets... theft of his belongings is an ever present cost to Bob. I can solve this problem for Bob. Live a more modest life and not have 10 homes with a million things in them. Maybe stick to first class flights, or even charter private flights when desi…

No post body was provided.

Re: Ask HN: Why isn't remote work advertised as a pro environment initiative?

#266

Post by TigeriusKirk »

crazygringo wrote: post #161
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Come to New York, then. I have sad news for you. DC was even worse.

No, most people in NYC are not commuting 2-3 hours each way. That's insane to say. I know a couple people who have done it -- living in deep Brooklyn far from the subway and teaching in the Bronx, or living deep in Staten Island and commuting to the Upper East Side -- but it is extremely uncommon. The average NYC commute is 40 minutes. And only 10% of NYC workers have a commute longer than 60 minutes. [1] [1] https:/…

I knew someone who commuted from Philadelphia to Manhattan every day. Worked in a museum, so it was her dream job but didn't pay much. Longest commute I've know someone to do daily.

Re: Ask HN: Why isn't remote work advertised as a pro environment initiative?

#267

Post by blululu »

raxxorraxor wrote: post #133
blululu wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are reading a lot into the OP's statement. A dense city has a much smaller environmental footprint than a sprawling suburb. The statement is just about the relative environmental impact of the two options nothing more.

I doubt the footprint difference would be in any way significant. Depends on the city layout maybe, even with the additional logistical difficulties. For many it is well worth it to escape the noise of high-density residential areas, especially with kids or for people that just like nature. Your footprint is probably > 95% consumption anyway. I don't understand how high-density living seems to be so attractive to man…

Consumption goes up when things are more spaced out. Electricity needs to travel farther on lossy lines. Water needs to be pumped over longer distances. Deliveries need to be sent to farther and farther points. Heating needs to cover a wider surface area. Unfortunately all of these relationship grow as a power law of density so your consumption must increase by a substantial amount with a more and more spacious development plan. A quick look at the CO2 emissions per capita of high standard of living countries quickly shows that expansive countries like Canada, Australia or the United States have much higher energy consumption than dense ones like the United Kingdom, Sweden or Japan.

Re: Ask HN: Why isn't remote work advertised as a pro environment initiative?

#268

Post by blahblah1234567 »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #246
Jenk wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also incredibly lonely at times - despite being constantly surrounded by people - which I figure can warp your mind much like too much solitary confinement can. I don't say this from personal experience (un)fortunately, I say this as someone who has a family member that is a confidant of a billionaire from the middle-east (whom I'll refer to as Bob.) The family member is one of their close staff - travels with t…

>Maids, servers, and other staff are stealing things all the time - Bob maintains and reviews an inventory of stolen property with his security detail, with monthly targets... theft of his belongings is an ever present cost to Bob. I can solve this problem for Bob. Live a more modest life and not have 10 homes with a million things in them. Maybe stick to first class flights, or even charter private flights when desi…

Yep. I'd say the solution is: Live a modest life, and don't advertise your wealth.

I doubt there is any law anywhere prohibiting a millionaire or billionaire from moving themselves and their families to a new place and living a middle class lifestyle under a new name.

Advertising one's wealth is a signal for "I seek validation" and "Please appreciate me"/"Be my friend because I am wealthy"

I doubt anyone is actually stopping Bob from quitting his job, moving to a new country, and living a quaint lifestyle.

Personally, I've up and moved and gone to live in a tent, just to see what it was like and essentially test myself and test the lifestyle of a vagabond.

It really showed me that, as a man, for the most part: you have no worth outside of what you provide for others. Men are expected to provide something for their community-- that is the basis of their social status: competencies (i.e. capable of productive things) and contributions.

Re: Ask HN: Why isn't remote work advertised as a pro environment initiative?

#269

Post by srveale »

closeparen wrote: post #198
osigurdson wrote: post #122

There is nothing more illogical in modern society than commuting to an office every day. Employees waste 2 of their 16 available waking hours in the non-productive commute while incurring significant financial costs (lease/insurance/fuel/energy) in order to support this patently absurd activity. Employers waste time and energy negotiating leases, re-arranging offices, purchasing AV equipment for meeting rooms, etc.,…

New York has one of the worst commute situations in the country, with an average of 36 minutes each way. The US average is 27 minutes. People commuting two hours a day are extreme outliers. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/22/realestate/commuting-best...

Census says 10% of people have 1-way commutes over 60 mins. Not typical but certainly not "extreme outliers" either.

And that's just commute time, which doesn't include getting dressed for work, gassing up the car, etc. (sure, WFH doesn't completely eliminate those, but the difference adds up across the population)

https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2021/one-way-...

Re: Ask HN: Why isn't remote work advertised as a pro environment initiative?

#270

Post by Eupraxias »

purpleblue wrote: post #247
osigurdson wrote: post #122

There is nothing more illogical in modern society than commuting to an office every day. Employees waste 2 of their 16 available waking hours in the non-productive commute while incurring significant financial costs (lease/insurance/fuel/energy) in order to support this patently absurd activity. Employers waste time and energy negotiating leases, re-arranging offices, purchasing AV equipment for meeting rooms, etc.,…

What we really need is a more flexible time to leave. I come in at 8am and leave at 2pm, when my commute is about 1/4 what it is during rush hour. Then I hope on for another couple of hours after dinner. This type of flexibility gives me the best of both worlds, I get to go into the office because I LOVE it, and HATE work-from-home, and I skip the commute.

I also followed this model for a few years, and in retrospect, it was the ideal.

I recommend this to anyone looking for a perfect 'hybrid'.

Post reply on HN