Quote:
Originally Posted by C.
Misguided city planning -- no one liked office parks. There terrible inefficient use of land. The only reason why businesses located there was because it was cheap, physical office location. However, with WFH being widespread, it's much cheaper to forgo the office parks for the back of the house employees that don't handle mail or interact with the public and such. Just have them work from home.
The country is in a housing crisis. There should be an immediate rezoning of office parks to also allow for low to mid density residential to help correct the supply/demand imbalances. Smart cities will do this. Cities that will sit on the commercial land, hoping it comes back one day, will just be squandering a missed opportunity.
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Inefficient land use, yes.
But there was a different primary reason for their existence: Many companies preferred them. The staff would be relaxed and focused on work, without distraction. Or so goes the theory.
This gave way to multiple differing concepts in the 90s and 00s, including:
1. The benefits of urban locations for developing new ideas -- cross-pollination with people outside the company etc.
2. The appeal of good urban environments for recruiting, particularly younger workers -- transit access, bars, etc.
3. Synergies with other nearby businesses
I agree that many office parks can and should help address the lack of housing, particularly if they're near decent transit.