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0 pointsyrgulation3y ago0 comments

Interesting.

It seems like the main issue is proximity to work and the reasonable demand for a short commute.

If that need would be satisfied then i think the resulting effect of wanting to build more in already crowded cities wouldnt be there, thus nimby’ism wouldnt be an issue because either since locals wouldnt feel threatened.

When i moved to london uk i had the same opinion as your colleague. I wanted a place to live as close as possible to work so that i would spend as little time wasted on commute as possible.

But remote work gave me the option to live anywhere and as such i chose an area outside london. Having the option to leave crowded centres i took it because it satisfies my need for work and a short commute.

So i am wondering isnt the root of all evil the fact that high paying jobs are clustered around large urban centres? Shouldnt tech have solved this issue by now? Even if people prefer office work, cant this work be done in smaller urban areas? Or at the edge of large cities such that people can easily commute from surrounding areas? I get it that in the last blue collar work had to be done in city centres so everyone can access services. But why do software engineers need to be seated in expensive city centres? Or indeed accountants, or even lawyers.

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kenned33y ago

> So i am wondering isnt the root of all evil the fact that high paying jobs are clustered around large urban centres? Shouldnt tech have solved this issue by now? Even if people prefer office work, cant this work be done in smaller urban areas?

This gets into an interesting "can of worms" problem.

My background is finance which tends to be clustered around "financial hubs" (London, New York, Toronto...).

Again, I will keep my "Toronto" perspective as I am most familiar with it.

Why are all the banks located on "Bay street"? Because if you dont have a "bay street" address you are a "nobody". This odd mentality can be found globally, "wall street" , specific "pockets" of London.

The "big 5" banks here COULD build places in smaller urban areas, but those lack the "power" of that Bay street address.

Now that we established that for odd reasons you have to be located in "bay street" there is also the view that you must be "seen". Remote work is a career killer in Finance.

One large Canadian bank has started the "we want you back in the office" discussions :

https://financialpost.com/fp-work/rbc-staff-back-office-more...

RBC CEO asks staff to come into the office more often 'Technology can’t replicate the energy, spontaneity, big ideas, true sense of belonging and fun' of being in the office, CEO says

Now RBC has issued a press statement on this, the other Canadian banks will quickly follow suit (they move in lock-step with one another).

So.. work in finance, you need to be on "bay street" monday to friday. You don't want to commute, increase demand to live in Toronto.

Basic economics show that increased demand leads to increases in pricing..

See this :

https://www.blogto.com/real-estate-toronto/2022/08/toronto-r...

yrgulationOP3y ago

In a way i can see why finance is linked with the status expensive offices give but surely the bulk of the work which happens behind the scenes doesn't need to be located in city centres.

Moving everything that isn't client facing outside would do both a favour. Indeed demand drives prices up but it seems like the reasons behind that demand are a bit archaic.

As a side note I cant help but giggle about this: “true sense of belonging and fun”.

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