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Remote work is here to stay – Manhattan may never be the same

nytimes.com

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Re: Remote work is here to stay – Manhattan may never be the same

#21

Post by monksy »

aphextron wrote: post #8

It's even more pronounced in SF, and it's probably the best thing that has happened to the city in decades, minus the obvious catastrophe of the pandemic itself. A nice studio apartment in a decent neighborhood can be had now for $1500; something unthinkable a year ago. Hopefully this can help start to revitalize the city's culture into something more than a monolithic tech frat party.

I would argue that it's not monolithic tech bros. It's a monolithic culture that mostly has tech bros. When you don't have good boundaries on subgroups then you don't have a chance for groups to form identities.

Why learn the group's mannerisms/collective behavior when they're scared that they may be called "non-inclusive".

Re: Remote work is here to stay – Manhattan may never be the same

#22

Post by [deleted] »

keenreed wrote: post #17
scottmcleod wrote: post #7

Remote is not the end all, hybrid is likely here to stay. And NYC is best place to live/work as a young person...At home all day on the computer? Sure rather have thousands of options for the evening instead of a dozen..

Normal place has like 3 indian restaurants to choose from. In NYC there are hundreds of indian restaurants to choose from, amazing ;) Maybe if NYC builds artifical skiing slope, or nice sandy beach..

[deleted]

Re: Remote work is here to stay – Manhattan may never be the same

#24

Post by necrotic_comp »

keenreed wrote: post #17
scottmcleod wrote: post #7

Remote is not the end all, hybrid is likely here to stay. And NYC is best place to live/work as a young person...At home all day on the computer? Sure rather have thousands of options for the evening instead of a dozen..

Normal place has like 3 indian restaurants to choose from. In NYC there are hundreds of indian restaurants to choose from, amazing ;) Maybe if NYC builds artifical skiing slope, or nice sandy beach..

NYC doesn't have an artificial skiing slope, but it does have beaches. Coney Island is wonderful, and I know a lot of people swear by Rockaway.

Re: Remote work is here to stay – Manhattan may never be the same

#25

Post by softwaredoug »

wcarss wrote: post #18
softwaredoug wrote: post #5

I’m a bit sad how remote work is likely to hurt my social life I have many close friends that grew out of the intimacy of solving problems together. We could casually hangout IRL after work. Our partners and kids would get to know each other. In turn, that growing trust would feedback into a more positive workplace. It’s not the only way to make friends, but it was an easy way. Now my relationships with coworkers can…

Conversely, imagine living in a lovely small town that has an active social life and a commercial scene, fuelled by the scores of people moving out there with nothing better to do in the evenings, who want to get out of the house. People who don't spend all their energy commuting into and out of a city each day, people who are free from the crowded lonelinesses of the subway, and the hyper-busy trendy weekend coffee-…

I live in a smallish town. One positive side effect of pandemic and WFH is more socializing with neighbors. Kinda a different form of socializing, but it is a positive upside.

Re: Remote work is here to stay – Manhattan may never be the same

#26

Post by sylens »

RHSeeger wrote: post #15
sylens wrote: post #10

Glad to see this is happening even with the largest employers. And for those employees who absolutely need that in-office/social experience, then you can offer them a credit to go rent a coworking space for the days that they need it.

It's worth noting that, for a long time, it's been rare for a company to compensate employees for their home office (rent/house cost + heat + electricity + everything else). I find it unlikely that, when most people are suddenly working from home, they'll decide to pay for those same people extra to have an off-site office.

I could see it as being an either/or thing - you can get an annual stipend on home office gear or reimburse part of the cost of a coworking space.

Re: Remote work is here to stay – Manhattan may never be the same

#27

Post by rsj_hn »

scottmcleod wrote: post #7

Remote is not the end all, hybrid is likely here to stay. And NYC is best place to live/work as a young person...At home all day on the computer? Sure rather have thousands of options for the evening instead of a dozen..

> And NYC is best place to live/work as a young person

NYC is the best place to live/work if you don't plan on having children, which is the ultimate arbiter of whether a given environment is indeed "good for young people" or not. If it wasn't for the flood of people moving into NYC from regions where people still have kids at higher rates, the entire city's population would quickly collapse. It's a genetic graveyard.

Re: Remote work is here to stay – Manhattan may never be the same

#28

Post by anthropodie »

Indian here offering a slightly different perspective. I absolutely love remote work. Even before pandemic I used to work with remote team all the time only from office. Theirs stigma associated with remote work here. Employers don't trust their employees.

But if some employer does offer me remote with same pay as that of in the city I would love to work remotely precisely because

- I can work from hometown where living cost is minuscule of that of city. I was spending around 25K per month in city. It's just 8K now in hometown.

- I don't have to take a loan of 50 Lakh to buy a 1000 sq ft apartment in the city whose EMIs I am gonna have to pay over 20 years of my life because I already have a home. I can actually invest my earnings on my dreams. This alone is enough for me to forego any advantage that working in office might offer.

- Once you take a loan you have put a price on your freedom. You can't leave a job even if it sucks because it pays better. In India, the economics and everything plays out such that taking loan and buying apartment is considered safest route if you are going to work in city.

- People argue that remote hurts social life. I disagree. Remote work actually allows you to build your social life by letting you choose people you want in your life.

- If I am happy, I am going to put 110% of my efforts to ensure my employer remains happy with me.

Edit: I haven't even mentioned the advantages like savings on time, fuel and the fact that theirs no pollution in my hometown. It's so peaceful here I wonder how I got okay with 2 hour commutes with heavy traffic and awful pollution.

Re: Remote work is here to stay – Manhattan may never be the same

#29

Post by rjsw »

keenreed wrote: post #17
scottmcleod wrote: post #7

Remote is not the end all, hybrid is likely here to stay. And NYC is best place to live/work as a young person...At home all day on the computer? Sure rather have thousands of options for the evening instead of a dozen..

Normal place has like 3 indian restaurants to choose from. In NYC there are hundreds of indian restaurants to choose from, amazing ;) Maybe if NYC builds artifical skiing slope, or nice sandy beach..

> Maybe if NYC builds artifical skiing slope

Is Meadowlands too far away ?

Re: Remote work is here to stay – Manhattan may never be the same

#30

Post by lars512 »

Less people in dense Manhattan offices will reduce the value of the real estate. Presumably if it's a long term trend then more of it will convert to be residential. This would bring less people by day than full offices, but probably more people by night. It still allows for a pretty vibrant city.
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