Urban75 Home About Offline BrixtonBuzz Contact

London after COVID

My work (Local Authority) used to limit wfh to one day a week unless there were special circumstances :hmm: pretty sure that's out the window now. I didn't take advantage of wfh before because I couldn't concentrate as much on work when wfh. After nearly a year of this massive social experiment, my original conclusion was absolutely correct. :thumbs:

So I'm keen to go in , at least 4 days a week .

I think wfh will be more prevalent than before the pandemic, and I think central London areas will have to become more residential to survive . So central London will have to change into more of a residential area for various bars/clubs/restaurants/theatres, etc to continue to thrive.

More office blocks will be converted into apartments for young people :hmm:
 
I expect far less commuting which will be good for commuters in one sense since the public transport system will be less stressed.
Kids are still going to be going to school but there will be big difference to average office workers with much more WFH.
I won't be returning to my office any time soon but would envisage WFH at least 1 day a week when some kind of normality returns.
 
DJWrongspeed said:
I expect far less commuting which will be good for commuters in one sense since the public transport system will be less stressed.
Kids are still going to be going to school but there will be big difference to average office workers with much more WFH.
I won't be returning to my office any time soon but would envisage WFH at least 1 day a week when some kind of normality returns.
Click to expand...
I read something recently which suggests that if fewer people are traveling to work then public transport levels will be cut.

I suspect that we will see an increase in some people working from home at least some of the time, and possibly a reduction in traveling to central London for shopping and leisure.

While both of those changes will have benefits, or at least at least potential benefits, they will also result in some people losing their jobs, and an increase in uncertainty generally.
 
Ideally there'd be some recognition that if everyone sleeping rough can be housed at least temporarily then there is no systemic requirement for anyone to sleep rough and the antisocial purchase of properties as investments which are never lived in should be replaced by the properties' socialisation for families in temporary accommodation and those without a home.
 
Pickman's model said:
Ideally there'd be some recognition that if everyone sleeping rough can be housed at least temporarily then there is no systemic requirement for anyone to sleep rough and the antisocial purchase of properties as investments which are never lived in should be replaced by the properties' socialisation for families in temporary accommodation and those without a home.
Click to expand...
Some people are still sleeping rough, and the reasons people sleep rough aren't just related to properties being used as investments or other non-occupancy reasons.

But it would certainly be good if rough sleeping could be significantly addressed as a result of the "end" of COVID
 
andysays said:
Some people are still sleeping rough, and the reasons people sleep rough aren't just related to properties being used as investments or other non-occupancy reasons.

But it would certainly be good if rough sleeping could be significantly addressed as a result of the "end" of COVID
Click to expand...
Yes I've seen that but in the first flush of the pandemic pretty much everyone on the streets disappeared into accommodation. I know the causes are more complex but with a wave of new homelessness on the way it'd be good if on the way to treating the causes we dealt with the symptom.
 
I hope they can keep some of the improvements to London that lockdown has caused (in terms of hugely reduced car noise and pollution) - as a city to walk around and explore, it has never been better than this past year. I did the walk around where the City Walls used to be today and it was fantastic, Postman's Park and the Barbican especially.
 
agricola said:
I hope they can keep some of the improvements to London that lockdown has caused (in terms of hugely reduced car noise and pollution) - as a city to walk around and explore, it has never been better than this past year. I did the walk around where the City Walls used to be today and it was fantastic, Postman's Park and the Barbican especially.
Click to expand...
I walked around thereabouts yesterday , it was better without the traffic. I haven't been into the West End since about Feb last year , how has that changed ?
 
marty21 said:
I walked around thereabouts yesterday , it was better without the traffic. I haven't been into the West End since about Feb last year , how has that changed ?
Click to expand...

The first lockdown was eerie as it seemed deserted, but this one has seen more people walking around. Oxford Street is going to have to change a lot though, at least in terms of what shops are there.
 
I exercise by cycling through the City every day and seeing two new buildings rapidly approach completion, I wonder if they are ever going to get used like they were intended?

I don't think I ever have to go back to the office in Old St. I think if I do go in it will be whenever I feel like it. The company bought it in the late 80's and own it. Probably keep it as its kinda useful and cheap for them. Cancelled all the other leases nearby, unfortunately for their old landlord, they were up last April.

I read Goldman Sachs has already said its all back, wfh doesn't suit the work culture. No surprise there. Group of junior bankers at Goldman Sachs claim 'inhumane' work conditions
Housemates bf has said his small company has cancelled the leases on their buildings. He has no offices to go to anymore.

I think there is some demand for the office now people have done the dream for a year.
 
It feels to me like the have to find some way to get more ordinary people, with ordinary incomes living in central London. But it still won't fucking happen.

A big thing I haven't heard people talking about is how this changes social life in town during the week - if only a few teams may be in at a time, there will be much less town-centre after work socialising. I reckon Wednesday could become the big night for boozing because it'll inevitably the day when most people are in the office (if lots are working Mon-Weds, or Weds-Fri). TBH, my work was already quite easy on WFH and either end of the week was very quiet in the office, as we have a lot of home-counties or further commuters. I think there were only ever 2 days when my whole team was in together and I was one of the few Friday regulars in the office (Monday being my regular WFH day). All our contracts have been changed to home/office based, except for those who were already home-based.
 
Looks like another year with little tourism, and no government support, that's going to do for a lot of businesses in central London reliant on tourist money
 
andysays said:
I read something recently which suggests that if fewer people are traveling to work then public transport levels will be cut.
Click to expand...

Hmm yes, and we've already had the Tories using the debt TFL have amassed as a way of exerting political leverage with Sadiq Khan... TFLs finances are now reliant on central government for the next good while. I expect cuts are pretty certain. Cuts mean jobs, means strikes?
 
Lots of central London businesses have closed already, but there are going to be a lot of businesses propped up by debt. I tend to doom mongering but I expect carnage.
 
I wonder how much the exodus will really happen, do young ish Clapham types really know what it's like to live in the countryside and miss out on a million pop ups etc.

Central London will be an interesting, no way office workers will return in anywhere near same number. A couple days wfh might be 20% local businesses income no small amount
 
crojoe said:
I wonder how much the exodus will really happen, do young ish Clapham types really know what it's like to live in the countryside and miss out on a million pop ups etc.

Central London will be an interesting, no way office workers will return in anywhere near same number. A couple days wfh might be 20% local businesses income no small amount
Click to expand...
I think more people will return , but not the same numbers , they need to make central London more residential, chuck in a load of social housing in the underused office buildings :thumbs:
 
Last edited:
There will certainly be big changes. I'm cautiously optimistic that in the medium term at least there might be some very positive changes that come out of having a bit less commercial pressure on space. Central London has become so focused on offices and businesses that cater to them that a lot has been squeezed out. Even a lot of the bars and pubs have been more focussed on that early evening after work slot. If the market for that stuff declines then there'll be losers of course but hopefully there's increasingly room for people who want to do something a bit more interesting who recently would have been totally unable to afford central London.

I certainly don't see a decline in demand to the point where it becomes some sort of abandoned wasteland anyway.
 
crojoe said:
I just can't imagine the powers that be will ever allow that to happen but depends where exactly I guess
Click to expand...
True , I am hoping for the collapse of capitalism tbf. :D But the Tories will come under increasing pressure if central London does not recover quickly enough , and the various companies who own the near empty office blocks need to make money. Better a return from residential renting than no return at all. And they won't want to actually deal with tenants , so an organisation with experience of dealing with thousands of tenants in high -rise blocks does have the necessary expertise.
 
It's interesting because the government haven't and will not have power over where people choose to work. most companies from waht i tell have laid out a hybrid model.

i'm not sure about the exodus. one thing i can't wait to get back to is....London. all its galleries, clubs, cafes, bars, parks, etc, etc infinitum.

i don't think i'd be as excited about it if i was living in a small town/village. helps being single, i guess, feel like a runner waiting to get ouf of the blokes nad meet new people/friendships etc.

maybe city living will become highly desirable as people want to throw themselves back into the flow and they want the flow to be strong, rather than "great, the village coffee shop is back open".
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

editor
London in wartime: a bomb explodes near Drury Lane in 1944
Replies
15
Views
321
T & P
T & P
tim
Horses on the rampage in Central London.
3 4 5 6 7
Replies
190
Views
5K
kebabking
kebabking
Looby
Where to stay just outside London? June 24
Replies
14
Views
600
Looby
Looby
Hollis
Memories of first day-trips to London?
2
Replies
41
Views
1K
Monkeygrinder's Organ
M
L
Does London have as much atmosphere as it used to have?
2 3
Replies
62
Views
2K
mango5
mango5
Back
Top Bottom