The Overhead Wire Daily | Return to Work Now
January 28, 2025
I’m interested in how the remote work debate plays out. For years I heard people opposed to transit say that telework was the future, death of distance was the rage, and that we won’t need transit if people can work from home.
But now that some are able to work from home, many companies and executives and elected leaders are saying “no not like that”. Such a huge shock like the pandemic really changed things and for many in the status quo who don’t like change, they are trying to claw it back as much as possible.
I imagine it’s partially because some employers can’t look over everyone’s shoulders but also the item today in Current Affairs on sprawl, which was honestly hit and miss for me on a number of levels, had one quote which resonated and for me related to work from home and the office markets that people worry so much about.
“The problem with American urban planning is not so much that it thwarts free markets or that it’s too centralized or decentralized but that it prioritizes the needs of private capital over those of ordinary people.”
How much is the return to the office movement about human flourishing and how much of it is about protecting capital investments? Are we planning for downtown recoveries that benefit people like SPUR’s arts and culture focus or is it just because we need money for the transit systems and from property taxes and we don’t know of any other way to do things than the way they’ve been done?
People got a taste of not having to waste time commuting and found that a couple of extra hours a day for themselves and not being tied to the office every day was beneficial. There are a lot of ways that our transportation and land use patterns are really not resilient economically and this seems to be one of them.
***
For this intro post and more news in your inbox every morning, sign up for a two week free trial of The Overhead Wire Daily, our popular newsletter established in 2006.