In my opinion, this is going to be an issue for some cities more than others.
New York and a few other cities like it will be unusually affected the most because it has as push factors a very high COL and a lifestyle that many Americans probably find inconvenient AND a lot of New Yorkers have jobs that could be done remotely AND a lot of New Yorkers who can work remotely are wealthy and can afford to move to a vacation-y type of place AND these kinds of people probably weren't originally from New York to begin with and have no roots keeping them local.
In contrast, people in a city like Omaha aren't under as much economic pressure and those who want a yard or space can get it, a lot of people in Omaha probably work in a warehouse or medical center or something and can't work remote, they don't have enough money to move somewhere that is better than where they are, and they probably have family and friends and a connection with the community that anchors them.
I do think this might affect cities like Dallas and Phoenix though. The era of corporate relocations to the sunbelt being an economic driver could come to an end if a company's formal brick-and-mortar headquarters is only a few dozen people and the other 2,000 employees either work from home or work in a hybrid setting out of regional offices elsewhere. However this might be balanced out by people choosing these cities as cheaper alternatives to places on the coasts. On the other hand, unless these cities sell themselves as being actually cool in ways beyond just money matters(looking at you, Plano) then what would stop people from bypassing such places and going to a more cool destination?
Something that may happen is a reduction in regional brain drain, too. Young people who would have previously needed to move to find a good paying white collar job doing something like finance or software development will find it more convenient and affordable to remain somewhere near their home town or the place they went to college, assuming said place is decently liveable and not too boring. I think recent grads will always want to work in an office for their entry level job, but then it was never an issue finding that kind of thing locally. It's the moving up part that they won't have to move for any longer.
Ultimately I think what will keep cities alive, and what will keep everyone from just dispersing to random places, is that the majority of people still can't work 100% remote and a lot of people have attachments to a place that range from family and friends to their personal budget. Not to mention access to services that can't be obtained entirely online, everything from restaurants to dentistry.
I do fear a real estate boom in places that are scenic and high in recreational amenity being a threat to both the natural environment and also the inclusiveness of these places as they exist. What I mean is, imagine a beach or a state park that's currently not well known and sort of far from anywhere, currently the nature element is untouched and also regular working class people can go on a weekend, put $5 in a box and their family can enjoy the beach or camp. What's going to happen is that real estate developers are going to buy up nearby land and subdivide it to sell houses to rich people who are now untethered from their urban jobs. These people will take over local government, and before you know it public access points to the beach will be sold off and closed, hiking trails will become residents-only amenities, etc, and also these wide open landscapes and unique rural cultures are going to be just totally bulldozed for lame mcmansion shit on 10 acres.
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Originally Posted by Stay Stoked Brah
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Now, if we want to be anal-retentive...
Houston itself is not directly on the coasts, its tens of miles inland but located on an estuary and bay deep enough for the largest ocean-going cargo ships to travel up and visit. Within the Houston metro area there are suburbs and satellite cities that are directly on the coast and have beaches.
Geographically, it's similar in that respect to London. It's about the same distance from downtown to the bay as London is to the wider part of the Thames Estuary, and if you wanted to go from London to a true coastal town like Brighton its about the same distance as from Houston to Galveston. Brighton is effectively in Greater London as it has commuter infrastructure and the only reason all of southern England isn't just a carpet of sprawl says something about the way the British handle urban planning vs. Americans.
Of course, hell, you would call Philly coastal but its also technically on a river and much further from any ocean fronting shoreline than Houston.
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