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Comment by ricardo81 | Hacker News Reader

I agree with the sentiment of your creative approach. I think a good middle ground is having offices in neighbourhoods, within walking/cycling distance where people from different companies come to work. They get the benefit of social interaction, "getting out of the house", and avoid a car journey.

Living in the UK, I think that would also help restore the feeling of community, as a gathering point for people within a local area.

Personally I prefer working from home and have done so for 20 years, almost all my working life- but I understand why people have reasons for preferring an alternative.

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Offices are in office districts in places like London for a reason: many people will join the job not living near the office, those people will be all over town, and of course the housing prices nearby might not be to their liking (or the neighborhood amenities, for that matter).

An office district allows people to get to the office expediently from homes all over town, or even in the next town over, because all the trains and buses are routes to take people there.

(Other cities in the UK may vary, but how many of them are tech hubs?)

Expedient really is relative. Some people go from 1.5h of commute to 30 and are happy, others go from 30 to 1h. I have friends in London with commutes across the spectrum.

It's easier to switch your job than find a suitable apartment with an "expedient" commute.

> An office district allows people to get to the office expediently from homes all over town

You've clearly not commuted in and out of London at rush-hour/peak-time then. I REALLY don't miss that. Most days an advertised 30 minute train journey would take 50 minutes and unless you got on the train at it's starting point, that's 50 minutes of standing with your face in someones armpit.

> You've clearly not commuted in and out of London at rush-hour/peak-time then.

Not only have I done that, I've put up with the Southern strikes. Still far better to go into the center of town than to go to some random spot on a different edge of town.

Not sure if you misunderstood my point as I meant people would work from their own neighbourhood, not specific ones for specific companies.

I personally feel that part of the benefit of the office is sometimes being able to unite against the common enemy that is your employer.

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