Tue, Sep 18 2007

Workers buy houses where they can afford them, so long commutes remain an issue

If one of the solutions to gridlocked traffic is having jobs closer to where people live, then we're going to have to find ways to discourage huge housing developments further and further from jobs, just so they can afford to own a home. And we're going to have to find ways to build incentives for businesses to come into heavily-housed communitites and plunk down their facilities where people are already living.

As the cost of living rose in Silicon Valley, many companies moved their facilities to other areas, such as Colorado and the Dallas-Forth Worth area. As employees began to cluster nearer those new facilities, the demand for housing rose, and the less expensive, large housing developments began to appear in those areas. It seems to be a cycle that doesn't want to end.

As for the telecommuting factor, corporation officers and managers have to be willing to develop trust in their employees. Many companies still project an old-fashioned attitude of managers wanting to walk around and see employees physically working at their desks. That might be necessary when clerking at a retail counter, but it's silly to assume that software authors and many other positions require a body to be in one place and one place only, in order to get the job done. Telecommuting and flex-time may be companies' only short-term answers, they insist on locating in large metro areas where traffic issues continue to hold workers hostage on the highways when they might otherwise be more productive at night or at home.

posted at: 09:49 | category: /Miscellaneous | link to this entry