A neighborhood designed for work
In today’s evolving workplace of mobile workers, work-at-home entrepreneurs and employees, and satellite offices, the idea of an office park is getting to be increasing outdated. It certainly isn’t a favorite even in today’s times. In fact, for the aforementioned workforce, it’s the most inefficient workplace you could possibly design.
From a work point of view:
– Office parks are isolated. That means you’re wasting one to two of time each day commuting instead of working. It also means you’re inclined to leave sooner than later, because few people feel secure being alone in a huge dark building, walking alone across a huge, dark parking lot. In the North End in Boston, people simply walk home from work (see image), and enjoy a spontaneous drink or quick meal with friends at their favorite pub along the way.
– Working at home in suburbia can be entirely depressing. No change in scenery. No people to interact with. No places to have meetings or access business services conveniently. Using the North End again, everything is not only a pleasant stroll away, but there are literally hundreds of people with similar business needs and interests within the same radius.
Check out contemporary work trends here.
About The Author
One thing I thought would make suburbia a little less dreary would be to have a kind of “subdivision office”. A small office building that work-at-home types could go with cubicles, phones, secretary, fax/copier etc. So no matter what office-based job a person had they could get their work done and mingle a little. Put it by the pool and they could keep an eye on the kids too.
BTW, that picture has the White Hen I used to go to on the way to work :) Awesome neighborhood