By late spring, the most severe impacts from the coronavirus may be
fading, but its impact on how we live and work will not go away. Indeed,
many of the most relevant trends — including the rise of dispersed work
and living arrangements — were already emerging even before the
pandemic emerged.
Ever since classical times, pandemics have tended to be especially
tough on large, dense urban areas. A look at a map of COVID-19
infections, reveals that the vast majority of cases have occurred in
dense cities, like Wuhan, and later on around Milan, and, to a lesser
extent, Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and Boston. In
contrast there has been very little incidence in vast middle of country
and particularly more rural areas, which benefit from less crowding and
unwanted human contact, which now may be even more attractive to urban
workers.
Pre-existing conditions
The current pandemic is likely to accelerate pre-existing conditions
driving the dispersion of both people and jobs. Just look at the already
existing declining share for transit and the shift to home-based work;
since 2005 telecommuting has grown 140 percent. Working at home,
according to the census, now exceeds transit usage nationwide. This is
also true in California and the greater Los Angeles area.
Telecommuting will not work for everyone, but, thanks to COVID-19, it
is now getting ready for its close-up. Even before the current
pandemic, the benefits of working remotely were apparent in terms of
productivity, innovation and lower turnover. Telecommuting is also
particularly attractive to both seniors and educated millennials.
http://www.newgeography.com/content/006585-coronavirus-and-future-living-and-working-america
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