While never a transit activist, I would be in favor of dense, walkable cities regardless of work-from-home. I think these are more healthy in a multitude of ways.
If people can live in low population density areas while eliminating 90% of the miles driven per year, that's considered a bad thing because it doesn't support the urban vision they have that can only work if alternatives aren't allowed to exist.
Can you really eliminate 90% of miles driven by doing work-from-home in an entirely car oriented place? I live in small city surrounded by rural areas. Plenty of people have to drive five mile or more to get to anything. If someone did out once every ten days, it would unhealthy in other ways even if it conserved fuel, imo.
I live in a low-ish density section of a city. If I still lived in my old mid-density apartment, I’d have broken my lease early in the pandemic to get out to get more space and not have people walking above me all day.
I drive less now that I work from home in the country than when I commuted in the city, though the rise of two day shipping (Amazon, best buy, Walmart, etc) contributes a lot to that as well.
On top of that, I have access to forests, rivers and a prairie preserve without having to drive, and it is fantastic. I'm not saying all 7 billion people need to live the way I do, but I'm glad the option exists and WFH helps make it possible.
I just love the buzz and activity all around me. People having fun, drinking, playing music. As I live alone I know I would be extremely isolated in the countryside. I've lived in more remote areas in other countries which is precisely why I moved here :)
But people differ a lot and there's not one size that fits all. Some of my friends live in the areas I call "boring" and they actually hate coming out here. Where I live is pretty much the hospitality / nightlife center and although I'm too old for all night binges I just love the feel of this in the area. When people are having fun that kind of radiates.
Well, I happen to know most people in rural areas in the US don't have anything like this. Nearly all land in the US is cris-crossed with fences and "out in the country" on average presents one with no place to hike pleasantly anywhere in walking distance to one's private property.
The last time I lived in the country, I could walk along a busy highway to a small graveyard and that was it. Living in-town, Nevada City, I have far more walking options and can see forest, rivers and mountains because having lots of paths helps this place maintain it's tourist town status. Of course, when I lived in Berkeley, CA, I also had lots of walking options, including through forests and hills and that was full "urban" experience.
American rural life is often unhappy for this and other reasons. A lot of people living in rural areas are poor and angry with little interest in despoiled, formerly natural areas they grew up in since they generally descend from workers in extractive industries that have moved on (mining and logging).
So, I remain an advocate of dense, urban living.
This is a fair description of a lot of dense urban living as well. There are a lot of boring rural places- pretty much anywhere that is heavily dominated by farmlands. That doesn't mean that there aren't tons of beautiful, rural places as well. Go to any major city, and you'll find the same- bad neighborhoods and good. The (obvious) difference is that they're a lot closer together.
And while you said you have access to some trees and stuff without driving - you apparently do have to derive to get any groceries and that’s the point. Same for other services that people rely on. And someone has to drive to your place to deliver your shit. So the miles are being used by someone.
Btw - I use two day shipping all the time too and I live in SFBA. You know why? Less time consuming than going to the store and dealing with the checkout process and finding out the item isn’t actually there even though they said it’s there in their inventory management system. (Or it’s there but it’ll take someone half an hour to find it)
As for high density living, there's simply no substituting actually not being around other people. Noise, trash, wildlife- it's a fundamentally different experience to be able to go out in the wilderness compared to the domesticated parks that constitute green spaces in large cities.
On top of that, I don't share walls with other people- no obnoxious noises or smells, listening to neighbors fight or their dogs bark incessantly. If I had stairwells, they wouldn't constantly smell of piss and ramen like that one apartment I lived in.
I've upgraded or otherwise modified the cabin I live in to be as off grid as possible- internet and electric hook ups are required, but if push came to shove and our electricity got cut I could survive indefinitely out here, even in the heart of winter. Heck, last year the power cut for 6 hours due to a brutal storm with -40 wind chills and I only noticed because we also lost our internet connection.
Didn't say a post office was within walking distance so I presume you drive for that? That's extra fuel.
Again - you really should look at the Not Just Bikes channel. You're really not paying attention to what I'm saying.
That said, the post office is within biking distance during summer months if I need to send something. There's no biking or hiking anything over a mile here during the winter. Even that would be extremely unpleasant in January.
In the nearest dense city to where I live, you'll occasionally see someone biking to work during winter, but even then only on the best of days. Mail, packages, and commercial shipments all still get around by truck (the total distance driven is shorter, but more trips have to be made to accommodate the extra people).
The issue is mainly people wanting to live in a large city, but also wanting to live in a single family home (and most of them, although maybe not on HN, seem to favor residential zoning instead of mixed) which results in really shitty cities that are environmental disasters with endless sprawl, long commutes in city traffic, having to drive even for basic things like going to a grocery store, etc. And you don't have a "prairie preserve without having to drive" in that case, in fact you more likely than not have a longer drive to get out of the city than a person living in a denser city. Check out Perth, it's probably the best example in the world of this being taken to the extreme, with almost the entire city being just endless rows of houses.
People who are really against an idea tend to not think of solutions to downsides.
Go out and live life, there are near zero restrictions on you seeing other people in person. Almost nowhere requires masks right now either.
Do you draw a line directly specific from work-from-home to your current state? In the past couple of years we've globally had economic strife, millions of deaths and political unrest at enormous scale in addition to the switch to Zoom calls. Would -all things being equal- your desire to self harm be eliminated if you and your fellow employees were back to exchanging pleasantries at the office?
Honestly, going to an office everyday just helps me keep a schedule better and makes me more disciplined. It’s very hard for me to be productive when I can get into the habit of just wearing sweatpants all day and barely showering.
The company isn't saving $5400 of transit-related costs, an employee is. Putting the savings in terms of cuttable salary is kinda ridiculous. Surprisingly, most people work at their jobs in exchange for remuneration, not the satisfaction of reducing costs for their employer; you must be management.
I did not experience this. Even though I did eat out less, I seem to be eating more over all, and with the massive inflation in food costs I seem to be spending more than ever on food.
In the office it took effort to get something to eat, i had to drive someone, or prep a meal to bring with me, etc...
At home I just have to walk to the kitchen and eat....
I don't think WFH solves the worlds problems.
Before WFH I lived in a city and rode my bike everywhere. Went to a shared gym, because I lived in a city, owning a car was difficult etc.
Now I moved away, live in a house, fill it with stuff I probably didn't need and drive around. I will say I do all I can to not drive, I still have my bikes, but I'm still driving 100% more to when I didn't even own a car.