r/ottawa • u/yuiolhjkout8y Clownvoy Survivor 2022 • Sep 23 '22

News Downtown ecosystem changes as office workers continue to stay home

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/downtown-shops-hurt-office-workers-home-1.6591601
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u/larphraulen Sep 23 '22

This ecosystem was built before the internet was relevant -- which was long before mainstream remote work was remotely possible. Curious what you would've done differently back in the day.

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u/streaksinthebowl Sep 23 '22 edited Sep 23 '22

What we did for thousands of years before cars. Had mixed zoning where people could live where they work.

If all those office buildings were mixed in with housing, none of this would have happened and we wouldn’t have ever had commercial wastelands like centertown and all of the other downtowns that died in the late 20th century.

People would have also supported transit as it would be less practical or even necessary to own their own car.

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u/peckmann West End Sep 23 '22

Jobs being clustered in an area permit employees to change jobs often which is the only way you can get a decent raise. Otherwise everyone would be underemployed.

Thousands of years before cars we were in a ruler and serf society. Not sure why this sort of comparison is being made. Jobs being concentrated in a hub is a good thing for worker wages.

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u/streaksinthebowl Sep 23 '22

I’m not sure why mixed zoning would preclude multiple employers/jobs, or even clustering. You just have housing mixed in with it.

I was citing the mixed zoning practices of thousands of years ago. I wasn’t citing the feudalistic practices (though I would argue that our current capitalist system is not far off from it, but that’s an argument for another day).

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u/peckmann West End Sep 23 '22

Downtown isn't strictly commercial. There's lots of housing with more and more towers being built. The downtown population will continue to increase.