It seems that there is more profit in housing people than renting office space.
This is long overdue. Part of why companies are relocating to Austin, TX and others is that they have cheaper costs or are used to. When the cost of living comes down, that only helps spur companies to want to invest in business in NYC. I also like that it is recognized that not all of that office space is needed, and they don’t see a future for it. Which bodes well for hybrid and remote work.
Is there a downside to this? It could be expensive to figure out parking, but it is also reasonable to not need parking and use public transportation. I only lived in one walkabout neighborhood and it was great. I really enjoyed that experience. I would love for that to be the norm for all cities, and it could be if we had the willingness to do it.
I am not stuck to having a car. In fact, I would like to get rid of the need for a car. For most of my life, I have had to have a car to get to the jobs I have had, but if I could work/shop and not need a car that would be amazing. Recently an article said that based on car prices, people needed to have a 100K salary to afford having a car. That is just ridiculous. This is another way that inequality is hurting people.
NYC is awesome and it is amazing being able to live here. I thought Chicago was great and it is, but NYC brings it to another level. It is exciting to take a ferry and see the city skyline. It is fun having dependable public transit. I hope that NYC continues to think of people in all income groups so that we have a diverse and vibrant community.