Is Suburban WFH Only for White-Collar Workers?

American suburbs have changed thanks to the pandemic. The massive hybrid and remote work expansion has effectively made many suburbs quasi-office parks. Millions of white-collar workers are hidden away in basements, living rooms, and bedrooms, freed from the five-day week commute and office grind.

If the old suburban ideal was the separation of home from the workplace (either office park or downtown), the new ideal celebrates the commuting-free, family-friendly, casual Zoom workplace as a long overdue upgrade in work/life balance.

At least for some workers . . . those with tech-based employers, in so-called "clean industries," carry on their work unregulated by zoning, even running large enterprises, without much criticism from their suburban neighbors. Some suburbs do permit more direct service offices, including high-prestige fields like doctors, therapists, etc. But the same flexibility is off-limits for those in most service industries.

Planners and suburban residents have used fears of traffic, noise, fire, strangers, and other nuisances since the 1920s to promote monofunctional neighborhoods where most commerce is illegal. Most suburbs continue to restrict typical blue-collar industries from (legally) engaging their businesses in their homes. But if working from home is the new ideal, as many now claim, why does this leniency not extend to those who cut hair, operate small retail operations, run cafes and restaurants, and more?

The new push for Accessory Commercial Units pushes back on this tradition. Why shouldn't small convenience stores not be permitted, enabling residents to walk from home for a quart of milk? Why not be able to get a haircut in a more convenient spot? Many WFH white-collar workers would welcome a neighborhood cafe, instead of driving to a Starbucks for a coffee and a feeling of connection.

The "polluting" aspects of most businesses can be mitigated in ways that were unthinkable when zoning was implemented decades ago. Design guidelines and innovation could require attractive screening, additions, or alterations.

The "death" of downtowns and office parks and their reinvention has been widely reported. But the shift of work to suburban homes represents just as significant a revolution in American life. Suburbs, as we knew them, are dead. A rethink of their planning is long overdue.