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No it wasn’t hard to parse. What it was was hard to fathom that someone really thinks remote work is a general solution to high housing costs. Therefore I expli
by BenFranklin100 3y ago
No it wasn’t hard to parse. What it was was hard to fathom that someone really thinks remote work is a general solution to high housing costs. Therefore I explicitly pointed out common occupations to remind us all about the larger picture.
Well paying IT or white collar jobs that can be done anywhere are in the minority, and further the people that do hold those high paying jobs are frequently the very same people bidding up the price of existing homes in high opportunity cities, and pushing poorer people out in the process.
- p1esk 3y agoYou do realize that well paid people who spread out because they can work remotely create jobs for poor people outside of big cities? And in big cities demand for housing falls because there are fewer people? How is it not a win-win scenario?
- xp84 3y agoI don’t think the person you’re arguing with is against remote work or wouldn’t agree it’s a win-win. I think (and I agree) they are saying that it just doesn’t come close (on its own) to fixing housing on its own for the majority of workers, for whom remote work cannot ever make sense. Also I might add that it seems like* most people who work remotely do not even choose to fully “maximize” the benefit by moving to truly super low cost of living locales, I’m assuming it’s for social, family, and perhaps status reasons. So, yes, economic activity outside fancy areas is being stimulated, but not to a huge degree. *source: thinking of everyone I know at my fully remote company. Only a few live in places like West Virginia. Many live in the Bay Area, L.A., NYC, and like Connecticut.
- p1esk 3y agoYes, some people won’t move. But that should be an option. An office job should not be the main reason people live in big cities.
- BenFranklin100 3y agoExactly. Remote work is (or at least will be) a net win. But it doesn’t address the fundamental problem behind high housing costs: too few homes in areas people are willing to live.
- kjkjadksj 3y agoA huge issue for these small towns are in fact these high income remote workers or vacationers. They quickly drive up costs of things like housing but also entertainment and food in the towns they migrate to, where the workers often end up rent burdened living on top of each other, not able to save much money.
- csomar 3y agoYour premise is wrong and the pandemic has proven otherwise (except maybe for NYC). People will choose to move out of the city if given the choice.
- vlovich123 3y agoOnce it transitioned to an epidemic people came back. Not necessarily the same people who left, but housing prices are back up to pre pandemic levels if not higher is my impression.
- rvnx 3y agoThis is mostly because money lost a lot of its value (eaten by inflation, and overly generous policies during corona to fix the restrictions they themselves created)