urbanMSP

They're probably afraid of being accused of being discriminatory to some group by forcing people back. I talked to a security guard at the new city office building and said that it was a beautiful place to work and his response was that he loved the building. Are they going to ever do or have they done a Grand Opening?

One would think the City (and county) would be more aggressive about getting their workers back downtown as soon as possible, to help boost skyway businesses and perceptions of activity/safety around downtown. But that doesn't seem to be the case. City leadership has a vested interest in livening up downtown, more than any large company does. The City should be leading the private sector in this return to the office, not following. Kind of frightening to think that either the city or county would entertain the idea of letting large numbers of employees primarily work remote long-term. Might be fine for certain small departments that don't need to be in the office much, but allowing a majority of the workforce to work from home 3-4 days a week is not good for downtown.

I also think public sector workers are less likely to quit in favor of seeking employment elsewhere that allows WFH flexibility than private sector workers are (whereas private sector folks who want more WFH will change jobs to get what they want). Public sector employees aren't exactly known for jumping over to the private sector.

Didn't the county just buy the old Thrivent building a couple years ago?

In the interest of reducing greenhouse gas emissions & traffic congestion shouldn’t we be happy to see more flexibility in telework schedules? Is there a future mix between DT office work, residents and entertainment that would create a better, more balanced downtown?

In the interest of reducing greenhouse gas emissions & traffic congestion shouldn’t we be happy to see more flexibility in telework schedules? Is there a future mix between DT office work, residents and entertainment that would create a better, more balanced downtown?

In terms of GhG emissions, there's still a lot of questions about remote work. But from what I've seen, the thought is that increased utility use at home wipe out reduced commuting emissions.

If you have 200 people on the floor of an office tower, that's actually a pretty efficient use of energy. If those 200 people are all lighting, cooling/heating 2,000 square foot detached homes instead, that's not great.

In the interest of reducing greenhouse gas emissions & traffic congestion shouldn’t we be happy to see more flexibility in telework schedules? Is there a future mix between DT office work, residents and entertainment that would create a better, more balanced downtown?

In terms of GhG emissions, there's still a lot of questions about remote work. But from what I've seen, the thought is that increased utility use at home wipe out reduced commuting emissions.

If you have 200 people on the floor of an office tower, that's actually a pretty efficient use of energy. If those 200 people are all lighting, cooling/heating 2,000 square foot detached homes instead, that's not great.

Lighting is relatively negligible here (how many lights do you have on in your house during the day?), and homes are still being heated/cooled without people in them. Many people don't have a thermostat programmed, but even for those that do, lowering the heat to 60° instead of 68° in the winter or raising it from 72° to 77° in the summer does not eliminate those emissions entirely.