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Talking about the landlords, I think that a lot of the current business spaces that exist today will end up being retrofitted as housing. and that will bring ba

Talking about the landlords, I think that a lot of the current business spaces that exist today will end up being retrofitted as housing. and that will bring back the service economy on those neighborhoods. You'll see more grocery stores, barber shops, schools and less coffees. People will enjoy living on the city not because they hate commute, but because cities will become more enjoyable. Yes, in the short run, as with everything else, from electric light to computers and cell phones, the richer ones will benefit first, but given time I think that a bigger army of WFH persons will lead up to positive societal change.

throwaway98797 5y ago
I sooooo want you to be right. However, you are wrong at least for USA. Zoning laws will slow this down and the momentum will be lost. I’d love a taste of europe in america with some mix zone areas. I know not all cities are like the ossified ones. Ie., austin has mixed zones but many cities arent. I want to live in the picture you paint.
- elzbardico 5y ago
  Landlords have pretty powerful lobbies, once they see the writing in the wall, and that they can chose between writing those assets off or lobbying for mixed zoning, I hope they will lobby for that. Well... a man can always hope
- iancmceachern 5y ago
  My building did this. They are "live work " units that can either be rented by businesses or people as residences.
- positr0n 5y ago
  I live in a suburb of a quarter million directly north of Dallas. They are building up some decently dense mixed-use areas along the 4 major highways that bound the city. Mostly on the north-west side (Legacy West) so far, but they are trying to revitalize the strip along the highway to the east as well, including an old mall over there. We just had elections, and several candidates, including for mayor, campaigned very hard on the platform "my opponent is in bed with developers and wants to turn our sleepy suburban town into a dense urban hell hole!" Surprisingly to me, those candidates lost.
bsder 5y ago
Won't happen because of the way commercial real estate has been financed. An empty storefront is considered "rented, but temporarily empty, and can tack the lost rent onto the end of the mortgage". A storefront with a lower rent is considered "cost basis has changed and the mortgage holder can demand cash from you". You can't put a barbershop into that slot as the barbershop will never meet the rent. I was seeing a lot of empty storefronts in mixed-residential builds that hadn't been rented for years even before Covid. Covid is just going to supercharge that.

throwaway98797 5y ago

I sooooo want you to be right. However, you are wrong at least for USA. Zoning laws will slow this down and the momentum will be lost. I’d love a taste of europe in america with some mix zone areas. I know not all cities are like the ossified ones. Ie., austin has mixed zones but many cities arent. I want to live in the picture you paint.

elzbardico 5y ago
Landlords have pretty powerful lobbies, once they see the writing in the wall, and that they can chose between writing those assets off or lobbying for mixed zoning, I hope they will lobby for that. Well... a man can always hope
iancmceachern 5y ago
My building did this. They are "live work " units that can either be rented by businesses or people as residences.
positr0n 5y ago
I live in a suburb of a quarter million directly north of Dallas. They are building up some decently dense mixed-use areas along the 4 major highways that bound the city. Mostly on the north-west side (Legacy West) so far, but they are trying to revitalize the strip along the highway to the east as well, including an old mall over there. We just had elections, and several candidates, including for mayor, campaigned very hard on the platform "my opponent is in bed with developers and wants to turn our sleepy suburban town into a dense urban hell hole!" Surprisingly to me, those candidates lost.

bsder 5y ago

Won't happen because of the way commercial real estate has been financed. An empty storefront is considered "rented, but temporarily empty, and can tack the lost rent onto the end of the mortgage". A storefront with a lower rent is considered "cost basis has changed and the mortgage holder can demand cash from you". You can't put a barbershop into that slot as the barbershop will never meet the rent. I was seeing a lot of empty storefronts in mixed-residential builds that hadn't been rented for years even before Covid. Covid is just going to supercharge that.