While I don't think cities are dead, I think COVID has changed the balance of how centralized society will be. It's added a cost that didn't exist previously, a

While I don't think cities are dead, I think COVID has changed the balance of how centralized society will be. It's added a cost that didn't exist previously, and higher cost means lower demand. As for the exodus, it is already happening to a degree in the Bay Area. People may come along and fill the gap eventually, but given the new cost I don't think demand will ever be what it used to be. Additionally, the Bay Areas growth in the last decade was driven almost entirely by an industry who's job are very easy to make remote, so there's an extra point against things bouncing back to before, at least here in SV. I know New York has benefitted from tech growth in the last decade as well, but it's still much more diversified than SV and will likely get off a little easier.