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Remote work is gutting downtowns

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Re: Remote work is gutting downtowns

#231

Post by egberts1 »

highwaylights wrote: post #225
egberts1 wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

N-95 masks are rated to capture 50 um (micrometer). COVID-19 is 10.5 um. Water droplet to carry them just a tad bit above. Hydrostatic testing to get that 50um in N-95 mask were based on 8.0 pH Latex hydrostatic droplets. COVID-19 best infection spread rate is at 5.8-6.2 pH (opposite spectrum of Latex's pH). So, more will pass thru that mask unhindered. Nonetheless, the dispersal rate is lower only if the infected we…

Not really. Due to brownian motion and diffusion the mask will catch almost all particles anyway. The mask is rated to capture 95% of airborne particles generally, but it’s efficiency doesn’t correlate to the spacing within the filter media.

Brownian motion gets impacted if ions repels (as well as attract) at molecular and atomic level. And like pH, it has ions depending on where across the pH spectrum.

Now if they would construct a hydrostatic test using 5.8 to 6.2 pH aerosolizer, then the data becomes more robust.

Re: Remote work is gutting downtowns

#232

Post by MengerSponge »

egberts1 wrote: post #223
MengerSponge wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've had funny conversations about why I still wear a good n95 on public transit (planes included). My right-leaning and remarkably well educated parents are incredulous. A few years ago I thought personal masking didn't really matter. Wow, I was wrong! And not catching bs colds from weirdos on the bus or the grocery store makes it worth it. My face isn't that pretty anyway.

N-95 masks are rated to capture 50 um (micrometer). COVID-19 is 10.5 um. Water droplet to carry them just a tad bit above. Hydrostatic testing to get that 50um in N-95 mask were based on 8.0 pH Latex hydrostatic droplets. COVID-19 best infection spread rate is at 5.8-6.2 pH (opposite spectrum of Latex's pH). So, more will pass thru that mask unhindered. Nonetheless, the dispersal rate is lower only if the infected we…

These numbers are suspect, and the conclusions are wrong. Filters don't work that way.

Re: Remote work is gutting downtowns

#233

Post by egberts1 »

MengerSponge wrote: post #232
egberts1 wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

N-95 masks are rated to capture 50 um (micrometer). COVID-19 is 10.5 um. Water droplet to carry them just a tad bit above. Hydrostatic testing to get that 50um in N-95 mask were based on 8.0 pH Latex hydrostatic droplets. COVID-19 best infection spread rate is at 5.8-6.2 pH (opposite spectrum of Latex's pH). So, more will pass thru that mask unhindered. Nonetheless, the dispersal rate is lower only if the infected we…

These numbers are suspect, and the conclusions are wrong. Filters don't work that way.

Pray, can you elucidate on your non-factual statements?

Re: Remote work is gutting downtowns

#234

Post by ZoomerCretin »

merman wrote: post #55
Elidrake42 wrote: post #18

A bit off topic; I of course understand that I'm an odd situation and not representative of the broader trend at play here... But moving into remote work inspired my partner and I to move into Manhattan from the sprawling car driven nightmare that was Phoenix. Tiny little studio, but we've never been particularly materialistic, a murphy bed massively opens up the space, and no office to go into means once the day is…

Sorry your Phoenix experience was so bad for you. It's great out here though. Don't know why the top comment is dumping on Phx as if it doesn't have a great road system. Our grocery options will improve as soon as the german discount chains set Frys is not more expensive than TJs [0] When you drive east from AZ, you drive past the cheapest gas in the US[1] [0] https://www.frysfood.com/savings/weeklyad/ [1] https://ga…

>Don't know why the top comment is dumping on Phx as if it doesn't have a great road system.

They left Phoenix _because_ it is a kind of place with a "great road system." A place is either great to be, or great to drive in, but not both.

Re: Remote work is gutting downtowns

#235

Post by smileysteve »

snapplebobapple wrote: post #213
smileysteve wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

anecdotally, this is marketing bs / wishful thinking. I've been on a handful of flights in the last 2 years where the air system didn't work at all, and others where the climate control system was otherwise failing (80°F). This is accentuated by stale air when you embark and disembark when the aux generators aren't providing power.

How old were the planes that this happened on? There has definitely been a dramatic improvement over the years. I remember flying in the 90's and pretty uniformly feeling like I needed at least a good face wash, if not a shower after any flight longer than a half hour. Now this only happens when I am unlucky enough to get stuck on an old aircraft (i.e. the original westjet 737's still get me with this). I swear I saw…

These flights were in the last 2 years on a top tier (US though) carrier on domestic flights; 1 was a very regional flight, where , as you post, an older plane might expect it -- but if anything, that any planes in a top tier carrier that markets itself as Covid ready are expected to be bad is typical of how much bs this is.

Re: Remote work is gutting downtowns

#236

Post by AndyMcConachie »

This is an American problem. Not a cities problem.

There are cities with downtowns where people live in them. Not every city follows the American model of concentrating commercial activity in the center and having most people live in unsustainable suburbs. That's the problem.

This is what America gets for building shit cities that no one wants to live in. This is fundamentally a problem with a lack of mixed zoning and American style suburbia.

Re: Remote work is gutting downtowns

#237

Post by PraetorianGourd »

brookst wrote: post #214
PraetorianGourd wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Think of the layout of a modern office tower. Nearly open floor plans, one or two multi-user bathrooms per floor, one or two kitchenettes per floor. Designs optimized for ingress and egress via a single path. Sound abatement is minimal. Support columns are in the open. So at minimum, you would need to plumb and power each "apartment" which would require essentially a complete replacement of the plumbing in place, as…

All good points, but given the prospect of getting a building essentially for free (minus tax/maintenance) and having substantial one-time costs... that sounds like a pretty good deal. Many office towers have much higher ceilings than typical apartment buildings. Pretty sure a 12" subfloor would solve many of the issues you raise. And many office towers are designed to support multiple tenants per floor. I'm not dism…

I was being purposeful not to extrapolate out to cities/cultures I do not personally know or have experienced. I can speak only for the Western USA, which is why I tried to limit that comment to that region. I am sure other locales have other unique circumstances.

Re: Remote work is gutting downtowns

#239

Post by blockwriter »

adolph wrote: post #157
blockwriter wrote: post #35

HBO Max has a documentary about the Automat, which was once America's largest chain restaurant. You could put in coins and receive food from small automated doors and spigots at the Automat. Its downfall came with expansion of the suburbs, as there were fewer people remaining in the city center after work. The present crisis of city centers seems similar. I'm not sure if the relevance of city centers has basically be…

The term automat refers to a model of food distribution. [0] The movie [1] is about a specific firm, Horn & Hardart [2]. I don't think I'd agree with a thesis that suburbs were the direct cause of H&H's automat chain's decline. Logistically, there is a balance of preparation, freshness and transaction latency. The automat inverted freshness and transaction to prep latency from trad restaurants. The arrival of "fast f…

The documentary did mention the problem H&H faced when the price of coffee began to rise beyond a nickel a cup. It mentioned changes in the fast food industry, too, but I glommed onto the influence of the suburbs.

Re: Remote work is gutting downtowns

#240

Post by Certified »

phil21 wrote: post #180
Certified wrote: post #52

I had a long talk with a Chicago born cab driver when visiting a few years back. He explained to me that Chicago used to be a conventional city where the businesses were downtown and residential was a donut around that. Traffic was congested into downtown in the mornings and out of downtown in the evenings. As the city grew and commutes into downtown from the suburbs worsened, the businesses started moving out of dow…

> Fast forward to today and the traffic patterns have reversed, with congestion out of downtown in the morning as people commute out towards the ring of businesses and into downtown in the evening where people now live. Not really true in my experience, having been around here for going on 20 years. If anything, businesses had been (pre-covid) moving suburban campuses to downtown locations over that time. The commute…

I’m really pleased to get a local rebuttal. The conversation I spoke of happened a little over a decade ago and I’ve been curious ever since if it was a momentary perspective or a longer term trend. Did you see anything around 10 years ago that would agree with my cab driver’s thesis or was he off base then as well?
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