Quote:
Originally Posted by Voodooman
But, between permanent O&G reductions, and the new realities of flexible work arrangements, don't you foresee a permanent 20-30% daily reduction into daily downtown commuters? I'm not saying everyone will work from home 100%, but you have to think there will be a lot of people only coming into the core offices sporadically. Not to mention the cascading effect on DT service businesses like coffee shops, dry cleaners, etc. There must be nearly 1,000 food service outlets in the core. How many of those survive long term?
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Some points:
- Downtown isn't the terminus. People will commute to high streets like Center Street and Inglewood, and beyond.
- Even sporadic attendance to downtown is still better if people are taking trains and not clogging up streets. Allows everyone to move faster.
- More outflow from downtown as downtown appears to be building more high-density residential. More reason to come back in to downtown as well.
- All cities are shifting to co-working work cultures and flexible work options. This is inevitable and shouldn't prevent people from going to physical spaces downtown, even if not a traditional office.
- Calgary is still a growing city with a growing population. Building capacity for the future is smart given current growth trends.
- Park-and-Rides for people from Airdrie and Okotoks would bump up ridership.
I wouldn't be worried.