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This is a point that seems to be conveniently left out by most return to office advocates. My coworkers in Boston, DC and SF often had hellish commutes, up to 2

This is a point that seems to be conveniently left out by most return to office advocates. My coworkers in Boston, DC and SF often had hellish commutes, up to 2 hours each way. That is a serious chunk of the waking hours of the day to spend on the road, not to mention the huge cost and environmental impact of the fuel, the emissions, and the additional roads that needed to be built to support these commutes. The status quo in major American cities was well beyond the point of insanity and the frog had truly been boiled over time. For every person that took a jaunty walk down the block, or a breezy bike ride to work, there were many others that had to make a major sacrifice to come in each day. We can't go back to the way things were, it just didn't make any sense. I enjoyed my time in the office, but those days are behind me. I have more money in my pocket, more time, and more quality of life. I get to be near my family all year instead of in a random city where I am rootless. I'm not going back.

99_00 4y ago
>This is a point that seems to be conveniently left out by most return to office advocates. In my experience these tend to be executives who can afford to live on expensive real estate close to the city center. And therefore, have a very short commute. That's how cities where I live and people who I talk to live are laid out anyways. Downtown core is most expensive, and then the further out you go the cheaper it gets and the more painful the commute to the downtown core is.
wolverine876 4y ago
> hellish commutes The exaggerated adjective is the argument. Your co-workers could choose to live elsewhere, so I wonder if the commute was so bad from their perspective. Those cities in particular have good public transit, which lets you live further away and commute conveniently. Many millions of people live in those cities, and choose to - the real estate prices reflect the demand. You don't have to want that, but I don't see how we can tell everyone else what is good and bad for them.
lamontcg 4y ago
> not to mention the huge cost and environmental impact of the fuel, the emissions, and the additional roads that needed to be built to support these commutes. Plus a decent chunk of the 43,000 road deaths a third of all spinal injuries and a million days spent in the hospital every year from collisions.

99_00 4y ago

>This is a point that seems to be conveniently left out by most return to office advocates. In my experience these tend to be executives who can afford to live on expensive real estate close to the city center. And therefore, have a very short commute. That's how cities where I live and people who I talk to live are laid out anyways. Downtown core is most expensive, and then the further out you go the cheaper it gets and the more painful the commute to the downtown core is.

wolverine876 4y ago

> hellish commutes The exaggerated adjective is the argument. Your co-workers could choose to live elsewhere, so I wonder if the commute was so bad from their perspective. Those cities in particular have good public transit, which lets you live further away and commute conveniently. Many millions of people live in those cities, and choose to - the real estate prices reflect the demand. You don't have to want that, but I don't see how we can tell everyone else what is good and bad for them.

lamontcg 4y ago

> not to mention the huge cost and environmental impact of the fuel, the emissions, and the additional roads that needed to be built to support these commutes. Plus a decent chunk of the 43,000 road deaths a third of all spinal injuries and a million days spent in the hospital every year from collisions.