[adevine]

> almost certainly decrease the quality of output

I think this is a dubious statement. The bifurcation of American society, with increasing concentration of wealth in cities, and increasingly desolate rural areas, has only accelerated in recent years.

The fact is that most in demand knowledge workers want to live in central urban areas. You say you can have commute "only 20 mins longer than your average Long Island commuter" - does that mean your door-to-door time is over an hour each way? No thank you, I'd much rather live in a small apartment with a 15 minute walkable commute.

[cookiecaper]

>The fact is that most in demand knowledge workers want to live in central urban areas.

That's definitely false. There are hot markets for "knowledge workers" in every American metro, and a hot virtual market that is more than happy to pay for talented developers no matter where they're located.

In local markets, salaries may be adjusted based on the cost of living, but in relative terms, valuable knowledge workers have a lot of opportunity and are compensated well for their work wherever they live.

You might be conflating "my classmates at the university" with "in-demand knowledge workers", but it's incorrect to assume that people who could match the profile of a recent graduate comprise the majority, or really even a substantial part, of the "desirable worker" market. Real-world experience is immensely valuable, and real-world experience is generally only found where age, the necessary corollary of experience, exists. That is frequently not urban centers.

I know a senior developer who, in his mid-50s, left behind the Seattle metro for a quiet life in the mountains of Idaho. As long as he had an internet connection, his clients were more than happy to keep him on board.

I've spent my entire career in metro areas of respectable size, but not the "urban centers" or tech hotspots that you're probably referring to. There are good (and bad) developers everywhere.

>No thank you, I'd much rather live in a small apartment with a 15 minute walkable commute.

That works while you have 1 -- maybe 2 -- inhabitants in your "small" (read: tiny) apartment. If you ever have kids, the impracticality of this plan will be immediately visible. This further suggests that you're constraining your view of "in demand knowledge workers" to the under-30 set. I suggest you get out more!

[rootusrootus]

I think it has more to do with stage of life than type of worker. For example, now that I have a family, I find that I'm willing to spend a few extra minutes driving to the office in order to have a more spacious house and more open space for the kiddos.

[ghaff]

That's assuming that the jobs are actually in the city, as opposed to industrial parks in the suburbs. Although urban offices are more common that they were 20 years ago I'd be willing to bet that there are far more engineering jobs in suburban locations than there are near walkable urban cores.

[Spooky23]

I'm door to door to work in in the morning in around 10 minutes. About 25 if I walk.

My comment is more about the idea that we demand that people work in overcrowded cities in large offices, where most jobs can be done remote or in small offices.