The pandemic allowed remote work to flourish. Why are people still crowding the cities? And of all the places, specially Berlin. Not even that great of a city.
A lot of my friends fled the city.
Because in most of Europe (Austria for me) it didn't flourish and not every job can be done remotely as not everything IT related is web development and in many companies management did not give ownership and resources to maintain remote work IT infrastructure to anyone, so everything is chaotic and crumbling to bits now that things are opening up and most people are back in the offices.
Few companies here are keeping 100% remote once the vaccine mandate came through and things started opening up this spring, and now the new standard is various hybrid work variants where you get 1-3 days per week remote and the rest in the office, or one week remote, one in the office, without any logic or arguments behind these choices, just "because management said so" and "this is how we do it here".
>Why are people still crowding the cities?
Because that's where the amenities and the networking opportunities still are. Universities, clubs, bars, music halls, swimming pools, great restaurants, bouldering halls and gyms, music and jazz bars and basically anything to do with art.
Oh, and most importantly, dating. It's way more difficult to meet someone when you live alone in the sticks VS being surrounded by people your own age sharing similar interests.
Couldn't be happier, but I wouldn't recommend it to someone who is single.
There's culture and museums and lots of different food in cities, but all I really need is a small smattering of decent establishments in exactly the vein you just mentioned. And of course a good environment for working from home.
I think there is something to be said for New England towns where the design of the town center predates the automobile and is therefore pleasantly dense and walkable. They just don't seem to make towns like that any more.
If you can be 100% remote and don't need the transit options to the big city then just a little further out you can find charming towns for even less.
We survived in little pedestrian-only villages. That thing that now is considered luxury or even a tourist destination.
Because the top employers by number of people are all about schlepping shit from A (where population isn't) to B (where population is), and that can't be done remotely. Then you have the manufacturers, and that can't be done remotely either.
Most jobs cannot be done solely using a computer keyboard.
Culture is also concentrated.