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A lot of the comments seem to be about remote work as some preference or something; the biggest driver I’ve seen though, however, is that housing is unaffordabl

by gedy 7y ago

A lot of the comments seem to be about remote work as some preference or something; the biggest driver I’ve seen though, however, is that housing is unaffordable near the office. Remote work makes housing more affordable for many folks. It also seems like it skews towards older folks, likely due to having families and children needing more room and better schools.

nwalker85 7y ago
This. Rent for an efficiency apartment within walking distance of my work is 4k a month. I rent a 3 bedroom house 40 minutes away for 1400. The ability to work remotely helps keep costs down significantly.
- gedy 7y ago
  Yes it's insane. I save about $30k+ on housing costs working remote and am still in California.
luciaf 7y ago
This is a really good point! Remote work has massive socio-political implications. Really enjoyed discussing this aspect of remote work in this podcast interview with Liam Martin, founder of Running Remote: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/s2-e10-liam-martin/id1314807564?i=1000432521999 https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/s2-e10-liam-martin/id1...
ilaksh 7y ago
I work for a startup that does not have funding. I moved from socal to Tijuana and my cost of living is about 40-60% less. I could not continue working on this startup without being remote.
elindbe2 7y ago
But on the other hand you have to wonder about the greater social implications down the line. The invention of the car was great at first. It allowed people to get where they wanted to go faster. But as it was adopted more and more heavily, we ended up with traffic and sprawl that mean people have to spend more of their time commuting than before. I wonder if something analogous would happen with remote work. If more companies go the remote route, wouldn't we expect them to favor employees in cheap locations that will accept less pay for the same work? And if that's the case, wouldn't more and more families be forced out of more expensive locations, even those who could afford to live there before? In other words, remote work has the possibility to exacerbate the very problems that it seeks to fix.
- ZeroFries 7y ago
  If there was less demand for expensive areas, the market would adjust and they would become less expensive. The overall effect would be an averaging effect on real estate prices as cheaper areas became more expensive and expensive areas cheaper.
  - elindbe2 7y ago
    But it seems quite possible that incomes could fall faster than demand given there are other factors influencing demand like foreign buyers. And the money saved by employers would make many already rich people significantly richer. Perhaps the nice areas of the country would just become a playground for the rich (more so than they already are) while everyone else is in dystopian exurbs and suburbs.

by gedy 7y ago

nwalker85 7y ago

This. Rent for an efficiency apartment within walking distance of my work is 4k a month. I rent a 3 bedroom house 40 minutes away for 1400. The ability to work remotely helps keep costs down significantly.

gedy 7y ago
Yes it's insane. I save about $30k+ on housing costs working remote and am still in California.

luciaf 7y ago

This is a really good point! Remote work has massive socio-political implications. Really enjoyed discussing this aspect of remote work in this podcast interview with Liam Martin, founder of Running Remote: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/s2-e10-liam-martin/id1314807564?i=1000432521999 https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/s2-e10-liam-martin/id1...

ilaksh 7y ago

I work for a startup that does not have funding. I moved from socal to Tijuana and my cost of living is about 40-60% less. I could not continue working on this startup without being remote.

elindbe2 7y ago

But on the other hand you have to wonder about the greater social implications down the line. The invention of the car was great at first. It allowed people to get where they wanted to go faster. But as it was adopted more and more heavily, we ended up with traffic and sprawl that mean people have to spend more of their time commuting than before. I wonder if something analogous would happen with remote work. If more companies go the remote route, wouldn't we expect them to favor employees in cheap locations that will accept less pay for the same work? And if that's the case, wouldn't more and more families be forced out of more expensive locations, even those who could afford to live there before? In other words, remote work has the possibility to exacerbate the very problems that it seeks to fix.

ZeroFries 7y ago
If there was less demand for expensive areas, the market would adjust and they would become less expensive. The overall effect would be an averaging effect on real estate prices as cheaper areas became more expensive and expensive areas cheaper.
- elindbe2 7y ago
  But it seems quite possible that incomes could fall faster than demand given there are other factors influencing demand like foreign buyers. And the money saved by employers would make many already rich people significantly richer. Perhaps the nice areas of the country would just become a playground for the rich (more so than they already are) while everyone else is in dystopian exurbs and suburbs.