It's all simple economics, really. Supply and demand. Before the pandemic, there was low supply (high rent, expensive stores/museums/music) and high demand. The pandemic has reversed the trend. The problem is, the reversal is so quick and severe that there's a huge shock to the entire system.
NYC will survive, of that I have no doubt. But it'll take years for it to get better, possibly decades, and there will be a lot of pain in between (higher crime being one). I have my doubts that vaccines can reverse this; in addition to the antivaxxers, there are also plenty of very science-based folks who know this stuff is being ultra-fast-tracked.
Deep down I think NYC has to come back, but he makes some good points. The truth is we always think that our time is unique and that our struggles are different and greater and for that reason it really wont be the same...which is why I'm optimistic.
But then the strongest point he makes is the Before Bandwidth vs After Bandwidth world. Even my boss, who loves meetings and power point presentations ("decks") has really come around to the working from home thing. This could be a monumental shift, and that could affect New York. Affect, not kill?
Great insights. I would think anyone who commutes to work would love working from home. Sitting in traffic is super challenging. And to think of all the pollution. The biggest silver lining in this pandemic is that Nature is thriving. She’s coming back and that has to be the most important. Without her being healthy, what good is anything else?
That's a great point. I don't think we can maintain these levels of low pollution (sad!) forever with our current infrastructure - but if we make the big shift to telecommuting then we may not need all our infrastructures to drastically change immediately (expensive and risky). I'm thinking this may be like the horse manure problem Gladwell describes in one of his books. Big cities had tons of manure they were always trying to get rid of and it was this unsolvable problem until...out of no where the car came along (new problems!).
The authors claim is essentially: Software is eating NYC.
The difference: bandwidth got faster. And that's basically it. People have left New York City and have moved completely into virtual worlds. The Time Life building doesn't need to fill up again. Wall Street can now stretch across every street instead of just being one building in Manhattan.
Following how NYC adjusts throughout time to the vast changes that have now occurred accelerated by the pandemic will be incredibly interesting to watch. Perhaps this allows for a revitalization of culture to enmesh itself into the city due to lower rent costs?
It's all simple economics, really. Supply and demand. Before the pandemic, there was low supply (high rent, expensive stores/museums/music) and high demand. The pandemic has reversed the trend. The problem is, the reversal is so quick and severe that there's a huge shock to the entire system.
NYC will survive, of that I have no doubt. But it'll take years for it to get better, possibly decades, and there will be a lot of pain in between (higher crime being one). I have my doubts that vaccines can reverse this; in addition to the antivaxxers, there are also plenty of very science-based folks who know this stuff is being ultra-fast-tracked.
Depressing. Time will tell if NYC can reinvent itself.
Deep down I think NYC has to come back, but he makes some good points. The truth is we always think that our time is unique and that our struggles are different and greater and for that reason it really wont be the same...which is why I'm optimistic.
But then the strongest point he makes is the Before Bandwidth vs After Bandwidth world. Even my boss, who loves meetings and power point presentations ("decks") has really come around to the working from home thing. This could be a monumental shift, and that could affect New York. Affect, not kill?
Great insights. I would think anyone who commutes to work would love working from home. Sitting in traffic is super challenging. And to think of all the pollution. The biggest silver lining in this pandemic is that Nature is thriving. She’s coming back and that has to be the most important. Without her being healthy, what good is anything else?
That's a great point. I don't think we can maintain these levels of low pollution (sad!) forever with our current infrastructure - but if we make the big shift to telecommuting then we may not need all our infrastructures to drastically change immediately (expensive and risky). I'm thinking this may be like the horse manure problem Gladwell describes in one of his books. Big cities had tons of manure they were always trying to get rid of and it was this unsolvable problem until...out of no where the car came along (new problems!).
😟
The authors claim is essentially: Software is eating NYC.
Following how NYC adjusts throughout time to the vast changes that have now occurred accelerated by the pandemic will be incredibly interesting to watch. Perhaps this allows for a revitalization of culture to enmesh itself into the city due to lower rent costs?
Time shall tell!