“We were already seeing downtown areas becoming more residential, more mixed-use, more about hospitality, entertainment, culture, nightlife. All of that is coming back. What’s not coming back is the idea of a central business district.” —
thesgnl.com/2023/01/post-c
Conversation
Replying to
2 things with “conclusions” about office space in downtowns post-pandemic:
1. Anything that may seem true for downtowns in North America, & even more specifically the US, may not apply everywhere else.
1. Workspace should always be a key part of mix-use downtown ecosystems.
4
7
36
Reminds me of Fogelson's "Downtown: Its Rise And Fall," described transition from cities having 1 "business district" to a "central business district" that was 1 among many: just as downtown shopping districts were overtaken by suburban malls, the CBD by suburban office "parks."
1
4
4
Agree completely. You’ve already seen that happen in cities like my hometown of Knoxville, TN. The challenge is to plan so that downtown is for all people, not just the wealthy. Development incentives have to be focused on keeping housing affordable to the widest range of people.