The Great Office Refusal
8th October 2021
Driven partly by fear of infection, and by the liberating rise of remote work, Americans have been increasingly freed from locational constraints. Work continues apace in suburbs and particularly in sprawling exurbs that surround core cities, while the largest downtowns (central business districts, or CBDs) increasingly resemble ghost towns.
People who aren’t forced to work downtown will avoid doing so if possible. When given the choice of ‘urban density’ or space in the suburbs, the suburbs win every time.