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Originally Posted by llamaorama
The problem with his assertion is he comes from city with a defined urban to suburban split. Well mostly. There’s the NoVa cities and red line burbs. In many regions that’s not the case. In LA or Dallas or most of the biggest MSA’s there are structurally suburban places in the city and structurally urban places in the suburbs. In the future most of the nations biggest regions will be like this due to diverging growth trends.
The east coast but really like NJ and PA really is the worst region in the US for geographical class segregation and inequality and that’s what’s really being commented on. This guy doesn’t like the progressive direction DC is taking. He is rooting for eastern suburbia, which is ultra NIMBY low density split level on 2 acres stroad land with private schools and private tennis and swim clubs and clustered mall retail. The working class live in remnant older town centers or 1970s apartment clusters that are neglected.
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I don't disagree but Philadelphia is faring unusually well in the metrics cited in this article.
1. Remote work isn't universal in Philly as some of our biggest employers are Eds & Meds. Our newest growth sector is cellular genetics & bioengineering (i.e. people that go into labs every day). Even during the height of the pandemic, my scientist friends were going into work every day.
2. We're the recipient of a lot of NE corridor relocations. That is, people that need to be in proximity to NYC or DC for work but not there every day. (I'm one of them. Work in Lower Manhattan...moved to Philly during the pandemic).
Philly's tax receipts are unusually robust from what I've read (though the assumption is the fortunes will change). I also just read an article in the WSJ that said that Philly was second only to Austin (in the US) in the absolute number of new households making more than $150K per year.
In any case. The article is garbage. Citys are ecosystems in and of themselves that create innovation and thus wealth. Any move away from them is only transient. One could even argue the current hybrid structure will actually increase innovation and wealth within cities. Yes, you don't have to go into the office everyday and deal with a commute. But for those that stay in urban environments but are working remotely or in a hybrid structure nonetheles, they too are the recipients of that additional free time. I'd argue the additional free time for those ensconced in innovation centers (i.e. cities) just gives them even more time to innovate.