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The climate argument really doesn’t track for me. If remote work does lead to people abandoning cities en masse, the climate is a huge loser. All of a sudden y
by JambalayaJim 3y ago
The climate argument really doesn’t track for me.
If remote work does lead to people abandoning cities en masse, the climate is a huge loser. All of a sudden you have people who are moving to more remote places, who will likely be driving instead of using public transit, buying bigger homes with extra work rooms, and so on.
Instead of reversing the 1960s trend of suburban developments, wfh will only accelerate it. No climate concerned person would cheer that on.
The one good thing about remote work is that it does reduce business travel. Maybe that’s enough to make remote work climate neutral, I don’t know.
- Clent 3y agoWhere do you think work from home workers would be driving to? Most public transit is for work commutes. I work from home. My car sits for so long, yard debris collects around the tires. I have been able to push off a new car purchase because I rarely drive anymore. That alone is a huge saving for the environment.
- JambalayaJim 3y agoHome workers would be driving to their friends places, their relatives places, grocery stores, restaurants, etc. Are you saying the majority of a person’s trips are work commutes, if they are not working from home? Because that seems heavily lifestyle based - that’s certainly not the case for me - and I would hope not the case for most as that sounds unhealthy.
- tonyedgecombe 3y agoPeople in cities consume to a much larger extent simply because they are richer. 50% of the world's population live in cities but they consume 70% of the world's resources.
- viraptor 3y ago> All of a sudden you have people who are moving to more remote places, who will likely be driving instead of using public transit, There's a whole spectrum between a huge city and a place so remote you drive everywhere. There's lots of smaller towns where everything is walkable or very close. For example, I'm using the car ~once a week to pick up big shopping from 3km away and for daycare runs on rainy days / when I can't cycle. Apart from weekend trips, it's basically unused. So no, not being in a big city doesn't necessarily mean you're replacing public transit with driving.
- ilaksh 3y agoI expect that eventually there will be more residential in cities. Anyway the solution to sprawl is not forcing everyone to commute to work. I think it's zoning and housing availability. And not allowing investors to hoarde.