Remote Work Isn't Killing Cities—Yet: Lessons from 5 U.S. Cities
The Remote Work Challenge: Lessons from 5 Cities
A Pew Charitable Trusts report examines how Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Denver, and Milwaukee have weathered the rise of remote work. Despite record office vacancies and plummeting building values, none has entered the feared 'doom loop'—tax revenues have proven resilient, buoyed by surging residential property taxes. But risks linger as commercial property tax impacts lag, downtowns struggle with emptiness, and cities push office-to-residential conversions. State policies and broader fiscal pressures could still tip the balance.
Nobody’s calling it a doom loop anymore.
- Animats
> "As office building vacancies jeopardize urban fiscal health and downtown vitality, here’s how cities and states are adapting."
The distress over remote work comes not from employers, but from owners of commercial real estate.
Here's a view of that from a lending broker in the commercial real estate sector. [1] The high vacancy rate is all too real, and papering it over with "extend and pretend" lending tricks is mostly over. A lot of loans renew in 2026-2027, and they won't have the near zero interest rates from last time. Vacancy rates are higher than generally reported, because many landlords are making concessions.[2] San Francisco has about a 30% office vacancy rate, by the way.
All this means foreclosures, distressed property, markdowns, and bankruptcies. "A January 2026 Morningstar DBRS analysis, reported by The Wall Street Journal and The Real Deal, found that more than half of the roughly $100 billion of securitized commercial mortgages coming due in 2026 are unlikely to pay off at maturity."
The loud "return to office" pronouncements did not result in an increase in office space in use.
Despite all the noise, remote work has not really decreased much in recent years. "Less than 1/3 of companies requiring fully in-person work in 2026."[3]
[1] https://fidentcapital.com/the-2026-maturity-wall-what-the-en...
[2] https://www.cbcworldwide.com/blog/buyers-sellers-are-making-...
- dzonga
the best approach & sustainable cities has always been mixed zoning.
city buildings at human scale i.e 4-5 stories like in most European cities. shops / retail etc at retail level. then offices / apartments occupy the other levels.
make places walkable & dense. then have public Parks etc. then shit like niteclubs etc - should be relegated to basement level. same as parking.
- aurareturn
How is San Francisco downtown nowadays? Before covid, it was vibrant and alive. During rush hours and lunch time, the streets were filled.
In 2024, I went to SF downtown during the work day and it was absolutely dead compared to pre-Covid.
How is it in 2026?
- cactusplant7374
I think remote work will create new cities and new urban centers if we allow it to continue. We shouldn’t be forced to be crammed into the same places.
- jmclnx
The cities: Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Denver and Mihwaukee. But NYC and SanFran also mentioned in passing.