I’ve always wondered what’s the point of shoe repair, dry cleaning, food delivery, and similar services that exist to serve over-worked commuters.

If remote work continues, we could see a lot more creative production and innovation instead of waste .

For example, if you need a new motor vehicle every 20 years instead of 10 years then that’s half as much pollution (CO2 and landfill).

Meanwhile, we can begin to readapt office space in cities into affordable apartments, making cities both walkable and affordable.

Retail that focuses on commuters and office workers (dry cleaning and shoe repair) can be transformed into third spaces (bars, restaurants, arcades, and social clubs like rock climbing gyms).

Overall we may see a smaller GDP as the economy adapts, but much of the loss will be in moving past the current waste built-in to the economy.

Shorter workdays mean less food delivery and more time spent in parks. Is that a bad thing?