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Remote work’s toll on cities

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Re: Remote work’s toll on cities

#151

Post by ricksunny »

bobwaycott wrote: post #141
ricksunny wrote: post #64

poor-man's market research: Would you (not your belief about others) be interested in co-working / co-living locales, in different countries (think Costa Rica, Tenerife, Zanzibar) with excellent maintained QoS connectivity, and (higher tier offering) where your right to work (local work visa) for your home-country employer / clients was looked after by the company hosting the network of sites? Goal: to liberate you t…

Absolutely, if the locations are a good personal fit. Looking into that right now as a recent empty-nester. Weekly hopping is too frequent for me, however, and a month feels barely long enough. I’ve been looking at 90-day minimum stays, with a preference for 6 months to a year. Feel free to reach out if you’d like to chat with someone seriously interested in this.

That's great to understand: Just messaged :) Totally hadn't thought of the empty-nester persona yet makes a lot of sense - I wonder if it represents a decently sized segment..?

Re: Remote work’s toll on cities

#152

Post by SoftTalker »

andybak wrote: post #104
ahoy wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Extensively, yes. Having housing & non-housing in the same area is rare in much of the US.

But... What happens if you've had a beer and suddenly remember you need a pint of milk for the morning? To pick an entirely not uncommon example from my own life...

What if you do? In my experience in small European towns, shops close up at 5:00 or maybe a bit later but if you remember at 10:00pm (or on Sunday) that you need milk for the morning you are SOL.

Re: Remote work’s toll on cities

#153

Post by SoftTalker »

pjlegato wrote: post #24
yieldcrv wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would love more concentrated neighborhoods like I’ve seen in many places across Europe many other places across Europe dont have this or most people arent conveniently located but my point is that this doesn't seem to be an option at all in the US, unless you are in a nice development within one or two cities. not an option in the suburbs anywhere to my knowledge.

That's correct. US zoning laws have banned the construction of dense urban neighborhoods and required car-centric suburban neighborhood plans since about World War II. Mandatory density limits and setbacks and numbers of parking spaces and square feet per occupant and other zoning regulations make it illegal to build anything other than low density suburbs. Many people still want to live in a dense, walkable neighbor…

> Many people still want to live in a dense, walkable neighborhood

I believe this is not true. Some people want this, yes, and it may be that they are overrepresented here or tend to form bubbles so that they think this view is predominant.

If a majority of people wanted it, it would happen due to the majority electing people to their local governments that support it.

Re: Remote work’s toll on cities

#154

Post by ricksunny »

PuppyTailWags wrote: post #128
ricksunny wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That makes sense - cool hobbies! =)

Thanks! If a counterpoint would be helpful, I know someone around my age where a nomadic lifestyle would be perfect for because his hobby is traveling.

Indeed, when I think of all the resumes & CVs I've come across whose personal interests line at the end says "Hobbies: traveling", I'm led to wonder why more people don't seem to allow themselves the creativity to integrate their work alongside their hobby of preference. Those such that I have met in passing in far-flung locales had taken grest pains to structure their work lives $ careers around the location-independent capability. I just thought more should have that opportunity of they could be facilitated to.

Re: Remote work’s toll on cities

#155

Post by andybak »

SoftTalker wrote: post #152
andybak wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But... What happens if you've had a beer and suddenly remember you need a pint of milk for the morning? To pick an entirely not uncommon example from my own life...

What if you do? In my experience in small European towns, shops close up at 5:00 or maybe a bit later but if you remember at 10:00pm (or on Sunday) that you need milk for the morning you are SOL.

My local supermarket shuts at 10pm and failing that I walk 5 minutes further to a 24hr petrol station.

For reference I live 3 miles from the center of a town with a population of about 280,000.

Re: Remote work’s toll on cities

#156

Post by asynchronous »

yodsanklai wrote: post #31

Many people want to live in cities, including remote workers. They like being in a lively place. If anything, they leave big cities because rents are incredibly high.

Or they leave because they realize raising a family in a big city is orders of magnitude harder when remote work is an option.

Re: Remote work’s toll on cities

#157

Post by expdshn »

adamjcook wrote: post #84
deltarholamda wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> convert office buildings into housing Can't be done. Office buildings of significant size are not engineered for 24/7 human occupation. The sewer will be inadequate. The water will be inadequate. Retrofitting this would be spectacularly expensive, if it's even possible, as mechanical and plumbing chases are sized for the original design requirements and are difficult (if not impossible) to alter. It may be possible…

Detroit is doing it all over the place. I live in an office building that was first opened in 1914 and was converted into residential units. Another 18-floor office building across my street is being converted as we speak ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Artists_Theatre_Buildin... ). The Park Avenue Building is supposed to be converted in residential units by the end of 2024 ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Park…

From the posted Wikipedia links, it appears that at least the United Artists building has already begun being demolished.

Re: Remote work’s toll on cities

#158

Post by johnkpaul »

escapedmoose wrote: post #58
yieldcrv wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would love more concentrated neighborhoods like I’ve seen in many places across Europe many other places across Europe dont have this or most people arent conveniently located but my point is that this doesn't seem to be an option at all in the US, unless you are in a nice development within one or two cities. not an option in the suburbs anywhere to my knowledge.

I managed to find a suburban area with restaurants, groceries, and shops within walking distance in the US and it is an amazing, life-changing thing. I am never ever ever ever ever leaving. US zoning laws need to change.

Where are you? This sounds like a magical place of unicorns and fairies. :-)

Re: Remote work’s toll on cities

#159

Post by mortenjorck »

Ancalagon wrote: post #125
mortenjorck wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Can't be done. It can be done and has been done, but what the article fails to recognize is that it is spectacularly expensive—the original build-out, of course, but also the maintenance (I’ve seen this firsthand in the stratospheric HOA fees in the one class-A office-to-residence conversion I toured in my condo search). Office to residential will happen, but it will be at the top end of the market. It is fundament…

How much were the HOA fees in that building? Just curious.

For a ~$400k 1BR+den, about $1k/ month. This building also has $1-2m 3BRs where the HOAs start at $2k and go up north of $3k.

Re: Remote work’s toll on cities

#160

Post by Ancalagon »

mortenjorck wrote: post #159
Ancalagon wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How much were the HOA fees in that building? Just curious.

For a ~$400k 1BR+den, about $1k/ month. This building also has $1-2m 3BRs where the HOAs start at $2k and go up north of $3k.

wow that IS pure insanity
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