5 ms·

One of the great NIMBY myths is that there is a lack of developable land in urban areas. Without exception, every North American city has vast swaths of underde

One of the great NIMBY myths is that there is a lack of developable land in urban areas. Without exception, every North American city has vast swaths of underdeveloped land where shorter, outdated buildings can be torn down and replaced with denser, more modern, energy efficient housing. WFH is great for some jobs, but many jobs are better in person, and relatively few people have the luxury of an at-home office, especially those within urban areas. Perhaps you're happy with your employer pushing office costs onto you, but I prefer an employer that provides me with an office that I can walk/bike to instead.

rtkwe 2y ago
There are vanishingly few cities in the US where a walkable/bikeable commute is even a real option even if you're willing to move deep into the downtown and move each time you get a new job. The costs of having my own office are far offset by not having to drive at all most days and I'm only ~15-20 minutes by car from my office. I work in a large multi-site company so I'm either at home on zoom for meetings or in the office on zoom for meetings hearing 60 other people also have zoom meetings. There's vanishingly small benefits for coming to the office for me because the people I could conceivably benefit from in person collaboration with are hours away so no matter what my day lives on video calls and Teams chats. > WFH is great for some jobs, but many jobs are better in person, I'm increasingly convinced this is simply not true for most jobs and it's being pushed by a) middle management who like in office because they can wander by and check in on everyone easier or b) the real estate arms of companies trying to justify extremely expensive leases they can't get out of. Personally I think b is the ultimate reason because it looks bad to have this cost sitting around with no 'justification'. Anecdotally our leadership was effusive with praise about how productive we were during the 2 years+ of complete work from home and yet no matter how much feedback they get that people aren't happy with RTO we've been slowly ratcheting up the number of days required in and increasing the level of tracking of adherence to this new policy no one but the C-Suite seem to want.
- BenFranklin100 2y ago
  It's the converse of what you claim. The denser an urban area, the easier it is to switch jobs and still maintain a reasonable commute. Sprawling metros like Boston have already fractured into sub job markets: Someone living in the North Shore area cannot switch to a job in Metro west without enduring a crushing 3-4 hour daily commute. By comparison, someone living in the Back bay can switch companies located in the Seaport to the Financial District without too much disruption to their commute. This becomes more and more true the denser the environment and supporting mass transit increase. Great for you you love WFH. Go move to the burbs and let the cities build homes for those who don't. No one is forcing you downtown.
- bluGill 2y ago
  Offices are great for in person meetings. A group of people in a room with a whiteboard can discuss things much better than the same people on zoom. If you are just on zoom meetings all day then in person isn't useful at all.
  - rtkwe 2y ago
    That's the one thing missing from all online right now but it's completely killed because the team I'm on doesn't have any other developers on my team in my city so any whiteboarding has to take place online and we don't have smartboards or something like that that can do whiteboarding well online. The closest we use is Mural but that's not quite as easy or good.
    - bluGill 2y ago
      If you don't have everyone in the same room then in person is meaningless. Even one remote person means everyone needs to be remote. The benefits of in office only apply if every person needed for a meeting/decision is in the same room at once. One person missing and you lose all benefits.

rtkwe 2y ago

There are vanishingly few cities in the US where a walkable/bikeable commute is even a real option even if you're willing to move deep into the downtown and move each time you get a new job. The costs of having my own office are far offset by not having to drive at all most days and I'm only ~15-20 minutes by car from my office. I work in a large multi-site company so I'm either at home on zoom for meetings or in the office on zoom for meetings hearing 60 other people also have zoom meetings. There's vanishingly small benefits for coming to the office for me because the people I could conceivably benefit from in person collaboration with are hours away so no matter what my day lives on video calls and Teams chats. > WFH is great for some jobs, but many jobs are better in person, I'm increasingly convinced this is simply not true for most jobs and it's being pushed by a) middle management who like in office because they can wander by and check in on everyone easier or b) the real estate arms of companies trying to justify extremely expensive leases they can't get out of. Personally I think b is the ultimate reason because it looks bad to have this cost sitting around with no 'justification'. Anecdotally our leadership was effusive with praise about how productive we were during the 2 years+ of complete work from home and yet no matter how much feedback they get that people aren't happy with RTO we've been slowly ratcheting up the number of days required in and increasing the level of tracking of adherence to this new policy no one but the C-Suite seem to want.

BenFranklin100 2y ago
It's the converse of what you claim. The denser an urban area, the easier it is to switch jobs and still maintain a reasonable commute. Sprawling metros like Boston have already fractured into sub job markets: Someone living in the North Shore area cannot switch to a job in Metro west without enduring a crushing 3-4 hour daily commute. By comparison, someone living in the Back bay can switch companies located in the Seaport to the Financial District without too much disruption to their commute. This becomes more and more true the denser the environment and supporting mass transit increase. Great for you you love WFH. Go move to the burbs and let the cities build homes for those who don't. No one is forcing you downtown.
bluGill 2y ago
Offices are great for in person meetings. A group of people in a room with a whiteboard can discuss things much better than the same people on zoom. If you are just on zoom meetings all day then in person isn't useful at all.
- rtkwe 2y ago
  That's the one thing missing from all online right now but it's completely killed because the team I'm on doesn't have any other developers on my team in my city so any whiteboarding has to take place online and we don't have smartboards or something like that that can do whiteboarding well online. The closest we use is Mural but that's not quite as easy or good.
  - bluGill 2y ago
    If you don't have everyone in the same room then in person is meaningless. Even one remote person means everyone needs to be remote. The benefits of in office only apply if every person needed for a meeting/decision is in the same room at once. One person missing and you lose all benefits.