Why Telework (Working from home) is dangerous to cities.

[T.O.Fanatic]

http://www.joelkotkin.com/content/00273-mass-transit-great-train-robbery

I'm sure a lot of you have heard of Joel Kotkin. In the face of all evidence he has continued to push suburban development accross North America. His basic premise is that with new communication technology, we can all simply work from home and there will be no need for dense city living. I've only selected one article off his website but there are so many others that show his viewpoint.

What I don't understand is why even supposed city boosters like Sarah Thompson support Telework. Since we live in a society that says you haven't "made it" until you have a big house in Richmond Hill and 3 cars, Telework essentially means the death of cities as we know them......you thoughts anyone? Please read the article and the others, tell me what you think. My perception is that we need to nip this whole telework trend in the bud if we are ever to have transit oriented cities, or we all going to live in terrible auto dependent suburbia.

 

[T.O.Fanatic]

http://www.joelkotkin.com/content/00251-myth-back-city-migration

Another article by Kotkin.....I sincerely hope he is wrong! We don't need more suburbs!

 

[spider]

My perception is that we need to nip this whole telework trend in the bud if we are ever to have transit oriented cities, or we all going to live in terrible auto dependent suburbia.

Am I to understand that I, as part of your "we", must close my comfortable suburban home office and get on the god damn bus because "Transit" needs me? You can't be serious.

 

[TrickyRicky]

Prdiction: Telework or any of it's future incarnations may have some impact on transit patterns but virtually no impact on transportation demands. At any rate demand for dense city living is growing not shrinking in the GTA.

 

[Asterix]

The implication is that transit is solely useful for people commuting to and from work, so therefore anyone working from home has no stake in the convenience of transit.

But there is a lot more to life than traveling to work and back. Everything from grocery shopping, stopping by the bank, going for coffee or to the park or to friends is influenced by the development of the neighbourhood and how convenient it is to do any of those things by foot, by bike, by transit or by car.

Having the majority of the population working from home wouldn't suddenly alleviate the benefits or even need of having more concentrated and efficient development.

 

[adma]

And besides, the whole argument gets inverted as the desktop hegemony gives way to laptop/hand-held portability. Thus, one can increasingly be cyper *and* mobile at the same time.

In the end, this "telework" argument winds up being so 1990s--perhaps befitting the nerds and Libertrollian nutcases that dominated so-called "urban" message boards in the early days of the Web...

 

[nfitz]

What I don't understand is why even supposed city boosters like Sarah Thompson support Telework.

Sarah Thomson a city booster? Did I miss something? She'd a right-wing Tory who has been promoting constructing subway in the suburbs. She seems much more a suburb booster than a city booster. That she supports something like this, fits right in, as far as I can see.

 

[T.O.Fanatic]

The implication is that transit is solely useful for people commuting to and from work, so therefore anyone working from home has no stake in the convenience of transit.

But there is a lot more to life than traveling to work and back. Everything from grocery shopping, stopping by the bank, going for coffee or to the park or to friends is influenced by the development of the neighbourhood and how convenient it is to do any of those things by foot, by bike, by transit or by car.

Having the majority of the population working from home wouldn't suddenly alleviate the benefits or even need of having more concentrated and efficient development.

I agree with you! Dense and efficient development is a good in and of itself. They point I was trying to make is that society as a whole seems to value the whole big house in the suburbs view of success. Telework means that you no longer have to live within any real distance of the city. I'm worried that this will only boost suburbs, as Mr. Kotkin is promoting.

Many of my Scarborough neighbours have opted to work from home because they don't like the noise and hustle bustle of downtown.......(I can't imagine why they enjoy lifeless subdivisions but that's a different argument) I know that is not a scientific survey but it seems this idea could be very dangerous in our current culture of big box.

 

[dahusbandofbath]

I know lots of people who work from home. All of them still need to commute to a central office frequently, as well as meet with clients. Proximity to colleagues and clients will continue to matter even as more and more people work from home. I have one work-from-home friend who lives near Broadview and Danforth because she loves being able to walk to the shops on Danforth and grab a cab to dowtown for clubs, theatre and restaurants. I also know a couple who both work from home in Milton because they like the big house and the plentiful parking for their enormous mini-van. The positive aspect about both these situations is that they're all probaly more engaged with their local community/shops/etc. than if they all headed to Union Station every morning. Also, I get the impression that some of us UTers are concerned that people will always opt for the cheap and distant suburbs if there's no necessity to live in dense proximity to the city. This doesn't concern me. I think a lot of people choose to live downtown dispite the fact they could live in Whitby if they really wanted to.

 

[dahusbandofbath]

I agree with you! Dense and efficient development is a good in and of itself. They point I was trying to make is that society as a whole seems to value the whole big house in the suburbs view of success. Telework means that you no longer have to live within any real distance of the city. I'm worried that this will only boost suburbs, as Mr. Kotkin is promoting.

Many of my Scarborough neighbours have opted to work from home because they don't like the noise and hustle bustle of downtown.......(I can't imagine why they enjoy lifeless subdivisions but that's a different argument) I know that is not a scientific survey but it seems this idea could be very dangerous in our current culture of big box.

If more people start spending their days, as well as their evenings, in Scarborough, we may see some very positive changes here! Part of what makes suburbs so dreary is the lack of connection that residents have traditionally had with them. I think that when the old suburbs were built there was still an expectation that the city was where one worked and played; the burbs were where one slept. Just because most of commercial Scarborough is dreary, doesn't mean the burbs have to be so. Wherever you go, people still want life style: i.e charming main streets with nice restaurants, beautiful parks, etc. Some are drawn to the energy of the downtown core, others to a quieter existence. We're lucky that we have a choice in the GTA. As an armchair urban planner, my desire is to see both dowtown and the burbs become more beautiful, engaging places. There will always be a demand for both.

 

[T.O.Fanatic]

Maybe you're right, and I sure hope so! I know most teleworkers still need to go to the office, and meet clients so I hope this means that living downtown will still be desireable. I was just worried about Joel Kotkin's predictions that telework would be the saviour of the suburbs.

 

[dahusbandofbath]

Maybe you're right, and I sure hope so! I know most teleworkers still need to go to the office, and meet clients so I hope this means that living downtown will still be desireable. I was just worried about Joel Kotkin's predictions that telework would be the saviour of the suburbs.

I'd like to think that saving the suburbs does not preclude the growth of downtown. Besides, I grew up in Parry Sound ON and became a teacher. I could have found a job in York, Durham or Peel easier than here in Toronto. However, I wanted to be here, so I stuck it out until I got a job with the TDSB. I think dowtown living is a real turn on for a lot of people. I have a friend who works from home and has a car. However, she lives at Broadview and Danforth because she likes to be able to walk to the Big Carrot with her dog and be downtown at a restaurant or theatre within minutes. She could afford a far nicer place in Whitby, yet here she is.

 

[Coltaine79]

Am I to understand that I, as part of your "we", must close my comfortable suburban home office and get on the god damn bus because "Transit" needs me? You can't be serious.

Indeed.

It's rather silly that someone who has no idea why some people "work from home", and no idea regarding the benefits derived from it (both for the company and the employee), would embark on a crusade against the phenomenom solely to benefit "transit".

Quite bizarre, even. It's this sort of mindless evangelism which makes me feel like I'm on one of those right-wing forums I used to monitor during university... sad.

 

[Coltaine79]

Maybe you're right, and I sure hope so! I know most teleworkers still need to go to the office, and meet clients so I hope this means that living downtown will still be desireable. I was just worried about Joel Kotkin's predictions that telework would be the saviour of the suburbs.

It doesn't sound like you're terribly familiar with the mechanics behind the current Canadian economy. Perhaps you should consider that neither the suburb nor the city can exist without each other.

 

[Glen]

If everyone worked from home, whom would cities like Toronto tax to death?