Originally Posted by
Lowell
I see the biggest threat to downtowns' declining being the pandemic-driven work-at-home movement. Companies have discovered the productivity is slightly higher, workers have discovered that costs, lost time and hassles of commuting and dressing up are lower.
Yes, I know there are drawbacks to each but I think every company has to be looking at their commercial office space expense line and thinking, hmm, maybe we don't need to keep paying this. The commercial real estate market is currently in a state of panic as a result.
I don't think this is as much a threat to downtown Detroit as a lot of its recent growth has been residential. There is still huge demand to live amid the action of big league sports, cultural and entertainment venues, casinos [for better or worse], the river, urban life, etc. Some of that demand is likely to soften as downtown workers now working at home, and who may have thought about moving down, may have second thoughts.
But is the big in-person worksite model going continue after we're all vaccinated and hugging again, or not?