Remote work is here to stay – Manhattan may never be the same • Hacker News Board

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

#41

Post by fhifjfhjjjk » Mon, Mar 29, 2021, 4:55 PM UTC

sokoloff wrote: post #34

wcarss wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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-…

At the risk of sounding picky, I am statistically much more interested in socializing with a randomly chosen person from this website than a randomly chosen person from my town (excluding my household). Even my kids’ friends’ parents are often tedious to hang out with. “Can you believe ?” Or some town gossip that is interesting only to the other half of the conversation. I have non-work friends, most of which I met l…

You are sounding picky and you are projecting the problems specific to your life on the rest of us.

We don't all want to be your friend, we want to avoid the rat race.

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

#42

Post by Mediterraneo10 » Mon, Mar 29, 2021, 4:55 PM UTC

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-…

> Imagine a world where you might once again say hello to your neighbours

When people complain about social isolation, that still doesn’t necessarily mean that they want to interact with their neighbours. It could just mean that they want to be able to interact with people who, they know for sure, share the same hobbies and interests and (in polarized countries) the same political and social views.

One of the supposed upsides of urban modernity is the ability to choose one’s acquaintances at will, which is potentially liberating from the gossip and judgement of small-town and neighbourly communities, especially for sexual or other minorities.

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

#43

Post by jaredwiener » Mon, Mar 29, 2021, 4:56 PM UTC

I'm a long-time NYC resident, looking to move next month when my lease is up.

Yes -- prices are down somewhat, and we will be upgrading, though not by as much as I expected when starting to look. And the demand is definitely there -- an apartment we were interested was leased sometime over the weekend.

NYC will be fine.

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

#44

Post by throwaway0a5e » Mon, Mar 29, 2021, 5:00 PM UTC

Mediterraneo10 wrote: post #42

wcarss wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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-…

> Imagine a world where you might once again say hello to your neighbours When people complain about social isolation, that still doesn’t necessarily mean that they want to interact with their neighbours. It could just mean that they want to be able to interact with people who, they know for sure, share the same hobbies and interests and (in polarized countries) the same political and social views. One of the suppose…

> Imagine a world where you might once again say hello to your neighbours

That world never went away. It's just a couple tax brackets below the typical HN user.

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

#45

Post by marrowgari » Mon, Mar 29, 2021, 5:01 PM UTC

jaredwiener wrote: post #43

I'm a long-time NYC resident, looking to move next month when my lease is up. Yes -- prices are down somewhat, and we will be upgrading, though not by as much as I expected when starting to look. And the demand is definitely there -- an apartment we were interested was leased sometime over the weekend. NYC will be fine.

Also a NYC resident. Been casually looking at apartments to take advantage of the decrease in price of the rental market. Found out 2 things; (1) that if you see an apartment you like you have to act instantly and submit an application otherwise it'll be off the market the next day, (2) the decrease in price is largely a myth. Some are cheaper but it's mostly negligible and temporary. These both tell me that the city is going to be fine. There's still a demand to be here. It's not just work. It's opportunity for culture and lifestyle that people are seeking as well. NYC is still at a premium for both of those.

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

#46

Post by Rubayo » Mon, Mar 29, 2021, 5:02 PM UTC

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-…

Very interesting comment.

Actually Michael Maccoby a sociologist discovered in his studies (1960 and 1970s) of what happens when a large factory comes to a rural town. People would no longer mix with each other to the same extent. Instead, after work, they would go home and watch TV. Work had totally altered their social lives. It will be interesting what dynamic will play out in the long-term with remote work.

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

#47

Post by jonahbenton » Mon, Mar 29, 2021, 5:06 PM UTC

rsj_hn wrote: post #27

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…

Ah, completely false. NYC is a great place to raise kids and many more are born here than move in- obviously because of cost structure. It is expensive. But the resources available to and in the public school system dwarf those in any other system anywhere else in the world. And kids being able to be mobile without cars is...huge.

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

#48

Post by anthropodie » Mon, Mar 29, 2021, 5:06 PM UTC

rockyj wrote: post #37

anthropodie wrote: post #28

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 liv…

Great points. For our friends outside India - - 50 Lakhs = 5 million = around 70K USD - EMI = Monthly Mortgage Payments

I think I should also mention average software developer salary in that case, it's 7500 USD/year (a quick google search).

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

#49

Post by hunter-2 » Mon, Mar 29, 2021, 5:06 PM UTC

At this point, I see two contrasting points being made again and again across different publications.

Articles lobbied by firms with interest in real estate are all about how people are tired of remote work and how post-Covid world will be much like the pre-Covid world.

And the other lobbied by firms with interest in technology are all raving about remote work being the new normal.

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

#50

Post by jedberg » Mon, Mar 29, 2021, 5:07 PM UTC

dcolkitt wrote: post #40

jedberg wrote: post #32

Manhattan will be fine. It's reinvented itself many times before. 100 years ago it was filled with warehouses and factories. Those all left and never came back, and they were renovated into housing and offices. If the offices leave, all those buildings will be renovated into WeWork like spaces (if not WeWork itself) or into more housing. Especially if everyone is working from home, people will want bigger places to r…

> New York is still a cultural center. People will want to live there. New Orleans is also a major cultural center. Some people will pay up to live around culture. But the vast majority of people paying NYC prices are doing so because of access to high paying professional jobs. There's a reason that San Jose is nearly as expensive as NYC. There's not a single major city in the world that survives off culture alone.

Given that the population of Manhattan would double even on the weekends, I'm going to say that a lot of people come in just for the culture, and would love to live there if it were affordable.