The people with choices prefer to work in "Inspired Spaces"
gapingvoid.com
gapingvoid.com
When I interview in a conference room with portholes and a nautical door, or see a hallway like this done up like a subway car, I can't help but thinking I'm surrounded by children, like I accidentally stepped into Disneyland instead of an office.
I mean, I like having fun, but I also like feeling like an adult. I don't want theme-park offices, I want natural lighting and good acoustics that muffle conversations. I don't want Nerf wars, I want product managers that know what they're doing.
There are bad, "crappy" offices, and there are theme-park offices. I'd rather avoid them both, and just work in the ones that are well-designed period.
And why would I want to be reminded of a subway car every time I walk down the hall? Subway cars aren't exactly pleasant places to be: they're noisy and crowded and smelly. I avoid them whenever possible (I'd walk a half an hour to avoid riding the subway). It would get old really quickly.
Indeed, I've often thought about taking a laptop and working there too (at midday, crowding's not so much of an issue)!
A subway's not quite as nice as a surface train in that respect (not much view!), but it has some of the same "going somewhere but never quite arriving" vibe that can be very appealing.
[If your subway is smelly and noisy, of course, that's a side-effect of your populace, not an inherent property of subways.]
Our setup didn't cost "millions of dollars" and was actually cheaper than traditional cubicles, which can be surprisingly expensive.
And yeah, office space, especially in a major city, is never cheap, and a lot of the expense is inherent in the cost of the space itself. If you're paying for super expensive real-estate, doesn't it make sense to spend a tiny bit more to make it as nice/cool as possible?
On a separate note, it would be cool if those subway doors opened automatically.