PHILADELPHIA-CAMDEN-WILMINGTON-ATLANTIC CITY-READING | Metro Development Thread

[jonesrmj]

Just curious, what are your opinions on work from home vs office?

[bdurk]

Originally Posted by jonesrmj

Just curious, what are your opinions on work from home vs office?

As someone who works in the office currently, I would really love to work from home a couple days a week. But I also think that if I worked from home every day, I would probably become demotivated and just play FIFA all day, so I think I would need a couple days in the office every week too. So I guess in my opinion a good mix of both is important.

[mcgrath618]

Originally Posted by jonesrmj

Just curious, what are your opinions on work from home vs office?

I work from the office every day I’m not on a construction site. When I’m done with this co-op I’ll be back at Drexel in person full time. I HATE wfh. If I ever apply for a job who tells me that it is required I will not take the job.

[Redddog]

Originally Posted by mcgrath618

I work from the office every day I’m not on a construction site. When I’m done with this co-op I’ll be back at Drexel in person full time. I HATE wfh. If I ever apply for a job who tells me that it is required I will not take the job.

I could do the WFH thing until I was 85.

[Boku]

Lower Merion approves 'massive' project for Ardmore

https://www.mainlinemedianews.com/ma...ce61ccfeb.html

Five years ago, many people in Ardmore thought the plans for a mini Target store and 35 apartment units were too large for Ardmore.

Now that those plans have been thrown away, it has been dwarfed by a much larger project with more retail space and hundreds of apartment units.

Often referred to as the Piazza project since it would take over two car dealerships of the same name, the Lower Merion Building and Planning Committee recommended approval of the new project that will run along Lancaster Avenue from Ardmore Avenue to Greenfield Avenue.

In place of the car lots, an IHOP and a parking lot, the developer plans to construct a five-story mixed-use building with about 70,000 square feet of retail space, 279 apartment units and 615 parking spaces. The developer is also asking for approval to investigate whether they could add another layer of underground parking for an additional 90 cars.

[mcgrath618]

Originally Posted by Boku

Lower Merion approves 'massive' project for Ardmore

https://www.mainlinemedianews.com/ma...ce61ccfeb.html

Good. Ardmore has good bones. Their new train station is U/C at the moment.

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by Boku

Lower Merion approves 'massive' project for Ardmore

https://www.mainlinemedianews.com/ma...ce61ccfeb.html

Just damn impressive. For anyone who hasn't been to Ardmore in a while, you should go. It really does feel like you're still in the city. This is a huge improvement to what's currently there.

[Jawnadelphia]

Originally Posted by Redddog

I could do the WFH thing until I was 85.

Totally agree. I think it depends on your job. If you’ve settled into the corporate machine, cog in the wheel existence…, holy shit, wfh makes life so much easier and the job tolerable. No commute, money saved, work in yo drawers, more free time, etc etc.

[Redddog]

Originally Posted by Jawnadelphia

Totally agree. I think it depends on your job. If you’ve settled into the corporate machine, cog in the wheel existence…, holy shit, wfh makes life so much easier and the job tolerable. No commute, money saved, work in yo drawers, more free time, etc etc.

Absolutely. All those things.

The commute alone (I have to get to Conshy) makes it amazing. Not to mention, we've all become so accustomed to the workflow that zoom provides, we end up conducting office meetings all from our computers anyway. We havent been in the conference room in years.

We are far more productive as WFH.

[SouthCentralPA]

Originally Posted by jonesrmj

Just curious, what are your opinions on work from home vs office?

I work in the office full time and I love it. I also only work 5 minutes from home, so my commute is pretty much non existent. I used to have an hour commute and that sucked but even then I liked going in a couple of days a week (at the beginning of the pandemic). I don't think I'd do well working fully from home.

Originally Posted by mcgrath618

I work from the office every day I’m not on a construction site. When I’m done with this co-op I’ll be back at Drexel in person full time. I HATE wfh. If I ever apply for a job who tells me that it is required I will not take the job.

I feel the same way. I much prefer to be in the office and around coworkers. I also get to go into the field a decent amount so that keeps it interesting too.

[DudeGuy]

I'd like to go into the office 2-3 days a week.

[Justin7]

Originally Posted by summersm343

Looks like someone had an aneurysm while designing this, but love the TOD density and extension of the walkable retail corridor here. Huge improvement.

[mcgrath618]

Originally Posted by Justin7

Looks like someone had an aneurysm while designing this, but love the TOD density and extension of the walkable retail corridor here. Huge improvement.

It’s this weird trend of “we’ll make this massive building appear ‘smaller’ by pretending that it’s a bunch of smaller buildings!” I’ve noticed it a lot in recent suburban developments.

One of the worst offenders is Stainton’s in OCNJ. It’s not fooling anyone:

https://staintons.com/about

[iamrobk]

Originally Posted by mcgrath618

It’s this weird trend of “we’ll make this massive building appear ‘smaller’ by pretending that it’s a bunch of smaller buildings!” I’ve noticed it a lot in recent suburban developments.

One of the worst offenders is Stainton’s in OCNJ. It’s not fooling anyone:

https://staintons.com/about

While that OCNJ example looks horrible, I think the Ardmore one at least has potential - just depends (IMO) on whether they go too cheap or not with the building materials.

[mcgrath618]

Originally Posted by iamrobk

While that OCNJ example looks horrible, I think the Ardmore one at least has potential - just depends (IMO) on whether they go too cheap or not with the building materials.

Depends on who is developing it.

Those new stores along Coulter look spectacular. One Ardmore Place on the other hand…

The development across from One Ardmore also isn’t too bad.

[PHLtoNYC]

Originally Posted by jonesrmj

Just curious, what are your opinions on work from home vs office?

I like a hybrid. The option to work remote on Monday and/or Friday. Flicking a switch will be a tough change for me.

Originally Posted by Boku

Lower Merion approves 'massive' project for Ardmore

https://www.mainlinemedianews.com/ma...ce61ccfeb.html

This is fantastic, glad to see Ardmore developing the right way. If I ever got tired of city life I would definitely consider Ardmore.

It still amazes me when I read the naysayers arguments against this type of development along Lancaster Avenue. Car dealerships, parking lots, and a crappy IHOP fit the fabric of Ardmore, but a dense residential development (with likely higher-end retail and food options) does not? The traffic argument is also as tired at that IHOP. This is one of the densest suburban areas in the Northeast, 279 more units is not going to put anything over the edge. I guess fear of change is really what it comes down to.

This same reason is why the impressive Devon Yards development was scaled down to its current state. It is still nice, but could have been so much more. At least this Ardmore project is almost ready to go.

[3rd&Brown]

Originally Posted by PHLtoNYC

I like a hybrid. The option to work remote on Monday and/or Friday. Flicking a switch will be a tough change for me.



This is fantastic, glad to see Ardmore developing the right way. If I ever got tired of city life I would definitely consider Ardmore.

It still amazes me when I read the naysayers arguments against this type of development along Lancaster Avenue. Car dealerships, parking lots, and a crappy IHOP fit the fabric of Ardmore, but a dense residential development (with likely higher-end retail and food options) does not? The traffic argument is also as tired at that IHOP. This is one of the densest suburban areas in the Northeast, 279 more units is not going to put anything over the edge. I guess fear of change is really what it comes down to.

This same reason is why the impressive Devon Yards development was scaled down to its current state. It is still nice, but could have been so much more. At least this Ardmore project is almost ready to go.

It always takes someone to go first. Ardmore and KOP are sort of leading the way. When other towns see the success of the result, they'll start allowing more high density development.

Add to that, the old excuse (taxes, overburdened schools) are sort of irrelevant these days. People simply aren't having as many kids as they used to, and many school districts actually have too much capacity. In my own elementary school, I recently read that the student to teacher ratio was something like 12:1. When I wasn in elementary school in the 80s and 90s, the figure was something more like 26:1.

That's just an organic reflection of smaller families over time combined with certain towns simply being built out. If there is no more land for sprawling development, enrollments will naturally fall over time.

On top of that, many suburban towns now have a 1% wage tax. By allowing higher density smaller units, they're getting access to taxes from high earners who don't have kids.

[mcgrath618]

Originally Posted by 3rd&Brown

It always takes someone to go first. Ardmore and KOP are sort of leading the way. When other towns see the success of the result, they'll start allowing more high density development.

Add to that, the old excuse (taxes, overburdened schools) are sort of irrelevant these days. People simply aren't having as many kids as they used to, and many school districts actually have too much capacity. In my own elementary school, I recently read that the student to teacher ratio was something like 12:1. When I wasn in elementary school in the 80s and 90s, the figure was something more like 26:1.

That's just an organic reflection of smaller families over time combined with certain towns simply being built out. If there is no more land for sprawling development, enrollments will naturally fall over time.

On top of that, many suburban towns now have a 1% wage tax. By allowing higher density smaller units, they're getting access to taxes from high earners who don't have kids.

Lower Merion High School is extremely overcrowded. It was built for around 1500 students and had double that in 2018. And from what I hear it has only gotten worse.

[EastSideHBG]

Originally Posted by Jawnadelphia

Totally agree. I think it depends on your job. If you’ve settled into the corporate machine, cog in the wheel existence…, holy shit, wfh makes life so much easier and the job tolerable. No commute, money saved, work in yo drawers, more free time, etc etc.

My favorite part about WFH is not having to be around and look at petty high school-like games and politics which is so much worse in person.

I figured this was coming, as this mall has been a sad ghost town for a while. The PM Mall is losing a few restaurants and that place is sad too (Zoes Kitchen and King Buffet are closing). I keep wondering what exactly one will do with these structures, as mixed use doesn't seem to be working out too well either (the doctor's office within PM Mall is already gone):

Montgomery Mall Foreclosed Upon, $118M Judgment Issued
https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news...d/2887994/?amp


Conshohocken’s zoning board grants variances for condo community on East Elm Street allowing it to move forward
https://morethanthecurve.com/conshoh...-move-forward/

[allovertown]

Originally Posted by PHLtoNYC

I like a hybrid. The option to work remote on Monday and/or Friday. Flicking a switch will be a tough change for me.

Hybrid is where it is at. I prefer even more flexibility though then just Monday or Friday. If there is no reason I need to come into the office on any particular day, I don't want to have to come in just because it's a Tuesday.

Generally I walk to work, it's about a mile and a half away, and normally I not only don't mind the walk, I really appreciate it. I like being outside, I like moving around before I have to sit at a desk all day. And honestly, when you have a kids, just getting an extra hour a day of personal time is nice. It's just a nice transition time, 30 minutes a day to transition from home to work mode and then 30 minutes to transition from work to home.

So most days I'd imagine I'd walk to work. But the idea of going to work on a freezing cold day with snow on the ground ever again, seems insane to me.

It feels like we're never going to be back in the office again though. I work for a small company of roughly 50 people and while we're headquartered in Philly, only about 20 people live in the philly area. The rest are all spread out across the US and the world. We were already a company that was so dependent on video conferencing, transitioning to work from home was so easy and there's just no pressing reason to return.

The company is still paying for an office though, so I imagine at some point I'll be able to use it.