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I think you're ignoring that fact that once you remove the commerce function of a city, a lot of the factors that create a vibrant culture go away. If it's not
by gffrd 2y ago
I think you're ignoring that fact that once you remove the commerce function of a city, a lot of the factors that create a vibrant culture go away.
If it's not a place where people make money / strive / want to make something of themselves, it's either a retirement community or a vacation town: just in sustaining mode.
- gwbas1c 2y agoI think BenFranklin100 is implying that new residential would be in addition to commerce / office. The residential helps businesses stay open 7 days a week, instead of closing for the weekend when no one is at work.
- BenFranklin100 2y agoThat is exactly what I am saying. Lots of new residential not only helps drive demand for the currently underutilized office space, the increased 24/7 foot traffic will drive demand for restaurants and other local businesses.
- gffrd 2y agoAh, I see. What I'm missing: if business scales down, thus population and culture scale down (unless populated by people independent of these things). This means higher vacancies of existing residential, so how much new residential is needed? I guess what I'm ultimately wondering: what's the "critical mass" of a city? At what point, does the commerce/social engine get small enough that it's no longer sustainable? We already saw many US cities were "weekday-only" cities, devoid of anything interesting, before the pandemic.