[wikitopian]

A vast subset of our economy depends on parasitically feeding off of people commuting to work.

If you think they and the government institutions and their politicians who rely on their tax revenues are going to politely shut up, you're mistaken.

[maxfurman]

I mean...yes? That's just supply and demand. People in the office need places to eat lunch, maybe some stores where they can run some errands before heading home, etc. etc. and if there are enough people there will be enough demand for several businesses to service these needs.

Obviously the last few years have thrown everything out of whack but a bustling urban core is a beautiful thing.

[BoxOfRain]

>Obviously the last few years have thrown everything out of whack but a bustling urban core is a beautiful thing.

For some, I really don't like urban life and the more bustling and hive-like the more I don't like it. I'm determined never to set foot in an office again, particularly an urban one because I simply don't like the urban environment. I hope that there's enough people like me to make sure a full return to the office never happens.

[wikitopian]

I think coding on my enclosed porch in a cozy country farmhouse surrounded by nature is a beautiful thing. In comfy pajamas, all day long.

Will you subsidize my aesthetic preference or does it only work one way?

[badcppdev]

You can only code because there's an economy that has a demand for your coding.

If you cut out a load of unnecessary restaurants, subways, theatres, etc that are no longer required due to a mass exodus from the cities then I'm not convinced the economy is going to be in such great shape.

[wikitopian]

Maybe we should bring back buggy whip craftsmen too, so we can truly turbo-charge this economy with people who are busy doing jobby looking stuff.

[noasaservice]

> A vast subset of our economy depends on parasitically feeding off of people commuting to work.

    1. Building rents
    2. Transportation
    3. Parking
    4. Eating out/beverages

Building rents are the craziest. The company I worked for doubled their area in December just before the pandemic, for more people to be packed in. The job was inherently easy to make remote, but they hated remote. When remote happened, they were holding a multi-million dollar bill on rents gone to nothing.

Companies that realize they can get 1/10 or less the area, and still have co-working areas and a few offices can save enormous amounts of money and be more *agile* than the in-person companies can be. But having companies reduce their rentals down 90% scare the landlords.

Transportation exerts a LARGE cost on workers. We're not paid for this lost time. And even at 30m drive, represents 5h a week lost to nothing. Well, not nothing. Gas prices are expensive, as is vehicle maintenance. So we're *paying* for the right to get paid at our jobs. And if your work is easily-remotable, then this shows a cost (at 30m/oneway) 5h + $.56/mi that you're wasting.

Parking is usually a perk. But regardless who its coming out of, still represents a significant cost for dozens or hundreds of vehicles to be stored somewhere. In big cities, that's upwards of $50/day. In my smaller city, the company was paying $300/yr in a terrible condition 4 story parking garage. Didn't even have guaranteed spots either. That was just "permit" to get in. Again, someone's paying it, and it's not cheap. But it is needless.

Food/beverage costs are also much higher, due to not being within vicinity of your kitchen. If I wanted coffee prior, it was going down to the coffee shop and getting one. However, I had the equipment and matewrials to make them at home, but being in an office prevents me from that. Same with food... although I could take my own lunch.

Now, instead of costing $15/lunch, it's costing me like $3/lunch. I brew my own coffee. I eat leftovers or make food I want to eat during lunch. I can also do things like make (chicken, beef, duck, turkey) stock on the stove while working. I can also now do more complex recipes that take time (like Pho) with only being present in the kitchen... There's no way I could leave the stove on going to a workplace. For those of you that says I'm stealing time doing long cooking - I'm not. Being present is just to make sure that a fire or other bad doesn't happen.

And I'm only looking at monetary costs. We also have a magnitude of environmental costs I never discussed. And that also percolates down to health benefits of less pollution and less injuries on the road. There's dozens of 1st and 2nd derivative effects.

But in the end, it's a bunch of technophobes that believe workers MUST be 'supervised' in an active panopticon manner so they work. (And as a corollary, that's also why open offices and hot desks are a thing. Same reason)

[UncleEntity]

> A vast subset of our economy depends on parasitically feeding off of people commuting to work.

You mean people who work in the coffee shop down the block so you can get your $7 latte on the way to the office?

Quite the interesting definition of ‘parasitically’ if you do.

[bart_spoon]

Probably refers more to corporate real estate interests. Just because people stop commuting to work doesn’t mean they will stop eating out. Maybe they won’t be located in the same places, but there will still be demand for food, coffee, etc. What doesn’t persist is the demand for giant corporate offices, and so there are some people who would be stuck holding some massive bags if the office real estate demand becomes permanently reduced.

[intrasight]

I had interpreted "parasitically feeding off of people commuting to work" to referring to those corporate managers. But certainly one could expand this to include all those who provide products and services in our economy. In fact, one could expand it to include the entire human race which is a parasite on this plant.

[mellavora]

Maybe they mean the people who own a coffee shop which charges $7 per latte.

[series11]

Probably more along the lines of personal vehicle ownership and a fast fashion wardrobe only needed for the office.