There are hundreds of remote workers, but being local has definitely allowed me to not need to rely on email and video chats so heavily.
(Disclosure: Google employee)
i tried to create a plan to go remote within a year of starting, and i was told that people WAY more senior than me have tried and failed to go remote
Mere Developers are essentially never permitted to work remotely long-term. Google would rather lose someone valuable like Tim Bray to a major competitor than allow him to do so.
If you're a global subject expert like Professor Hinton, maybe you'll be accommodated, but you dare don't mislead people into believing it's remotely common. That would be a lie.
Personally, I would not want to report to someone who spends the majority of time remote. But maybe this person is a really great boss.
Why? There is really little to no difference if person is in next cubicle or video chat away.
The smaller the team, the better, but it's 100% on you to explain when there are 70,000 counter-examples in play. Same would go for discussing why a certain regional office (like Seattle) would maybe work vs. Mountain View. You have to be where you will give your best work to your self and team. I got really tired of flying back and forth and holding meetings being the one remote person out of ~12-20 got really ridiculous, so a move was inevitable for me.