Earlier this month, I saw these two tweets:

Daniel 'I ride the bus, and I vote' Trubman, MPP @dmtrubman

I don't think most American urbanists recognize how disastrous permanently elevated levels of remote work will be for our cities. Our pre-existing high levels of job sprawl was already a major barrier holding back our cities. We NEED concentrated employment in downtowns (CBDs).

January 4th 2022

8 Retweets85 Likes

Barred in DC @BarredinDC

Newcomers to DC - now in the age of telework - will miss how awesome DC snow days were - lots of specials and just a fun scene with the day off

January 4th 2022

6 Retweets191 Likes

I’ve seen some commentary along these lines: that part of the vitality of cities, and the color of everyday life, was coming in to work every day. Whether it was the social interactions, the ritual and routine, or the burst of economic activity to businesses in downtowns/commercial districts, there’s a fear that we’re losing something.

I’m very much in the pro-remote-work camp. (I was already working remotely a year before the pandemic.) I have no idea, really, what the continued prevalence of remote work would mean for cities. And it’s probably too early to have any idea if the last two years will have permanent effects on settlement patterns. But I’ve seen differing views, and it’s definitely a big question. I’ll summarize a couple of the ideas I’ve seen here, and I’d like your thoughts too. (It appears true the combination of the pandemic and remote work have supercharged sprawl, as well.)

But in terms of the fortunes of cities specifically, one supposition I’ve seen is that the “superstar cities” may suffer a little bit, but that smaller towns and cities may benefit. This often gets some kind of partisan/culture war framing—e.g. “leave the big cities and resettle real America,” or whatever—but it seems plausible. It’s similar to the old idea of moving federal agencies out of D.C. and into various cities that could use an economic boost. I suppose it depends on whether people are willing to relocate to a “rougher” or “less cool” city. Some will. I don’t know if it will be enough to produce an observable trend.

Another view I’ve heard, which I find really interesting, is that decoupling the city from work and the commute will actually make cities more attractive as places to live. It changes the city from the place you have to schlep into every morning at 7am to a place full of things to do and explore.

I’m skeptical of this, but at the same time it sort of rings true. When I worked in D.C., I didn’t have much interest in going in on the weekend for a daytrip. It was kind of like, “I see enough of the city already!” The drudgery of commuting in made me want to go out to the countryside for leisure—wineries, wildlife preserves, things like that. I even liked just exploring the suburbs, because I spent most of my hours in the city. Now that I’m at home all day, the city isn’t connected to work anymore in my mind. I can see why that might open up a sense of it being more inviting and more fun.

I was asked a question along these lines for a roundup in Strong Towns back in December of 2020, and this is part of my answer (and read all of them):

As painful as this crisis has been and will be for cities, perhaps there is a silver lining. Perhaps municipal governments can experience the COVID crisis similar to how how Christians experience Lent or Advent: a time of reflection and self-denial with an eye towards renewal. Perhaps we can get back to what cities really are, rather than what daytrippers and suburban commuters understand them to be. City governments, in other words, will have to reorient their own understanding inward, investing and governing for the people who live there. This can manifest in various ways, but it should be a priority above desperately trying to bring outside traffic back into the single-use business neighborhoods, which take up so little of the land area and house so few of the residents.”

One can hope. Challenges are also opportunities.

What do you think? Leave a comment, send an email!

Related Reading:

The Small Towns of the City

The Lively D.C. Suburbs

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