[bluGill]

There is one advantage to Bay area when WFH: you can go into the office on request. I go into the office every 3 months or so - it is only a 7 mile bike ride. Sometimes things are better handled in person (I don't live in the Bay area). WFH with the ability to get into the office in a couple hours is valuable. Once you cannot get into the office easily if you need to you are worth less even if the need to get into the office is rare.

[paxys]

If you need to go to the office once every 3 months you can fly in from anywhere in the country. No need to live within commuting distance for that.

[bluGill]

I cannot fly and be there with 2 hours notice though. Sometimes flights are full and you can't get there at all with less than a few weeks notice. Often you can, but the cost for same day tickets can be very high.

Planning months in advance is done all the time, but it is hard. It is always easier to plan if you can look at the current most urgent project list and pick the top item. if you have to plan what will be on top in a few months that is a lot harder.

[paxys]

To me the biggest advantage of WFH is that I can choose to live in an area that fits my lifestyle and needs. If a company says "you can work from home but be near the office so that we can call you in whenever we want with zero notice" then that isn't really a remote job. In fact it is the worst of both worlds, because you lose the flexibility of being remote as well as the community and perks of an office.

[ta1243]

If "near" is a couple of hours that seems far better. Rather than spending 15-20 hours a week commuting you pop into an office once or twice a month, costing an average 2 hours a week, perhaps avoiding rush hour too.

[bluGill]

There are lots of in betweens i'm not going to call any right or wrong, just that whf with fairly quick access to the office is a useful one.