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by Kate Lewis for fluxo
Along with drinking less, partying less, and being overall less social, Gen Z is becoming known for another trend as well—moving out of big cities at a young age.
Unlike their predecessors (The Millennials), Gen Z doesn’t seem to have the patience to put up with living in a city like New York—at least, not at the rate other generations have. But is it really a fair comparison? Is moving to NYC at 22 in 2025 the same as it was in 2015?
No, it’s not. Without even getting into the fact that rent is higher than ever before, the pandemic irreparably changed the way we live, the way we socialize, and the way we work—in ways that make city living far more difficult, and probably far less worth it,
For relevancy’s sake, let’s focus on the way we work since the pandemic. So many jobs are remote or hybrid, which is seemingly what the workforce wants, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t also have some negative side effects.
The biggest, in the context of living in NYC, is the isolation in a small space. Working three to five days a week from home while living in some of the smallest but most expensive apartments in the country doesn’t make for the most ideal or comfortable WFH set-up. Nor does it help your mental health—or social skills.
Working in an office provides built-in socialization, whether you like your coworkers or not. But being social, working with others, and interacting with people on a daily basis works a muscle we all need to keep somewhat strong in order to be productive members of society. If not, we become lonely, we isolate ourselves, and we get comfortable with not making meaningful human connections.
Now, does that mean we shouldn’t work remotely? Not necessarily. There are many upsides to working from home, and if that’s what the majority of the workforce wants, then we should adapt. But there’s a middle ground between being stuck in your apartment all week and being in the office 24/7.
What if you could work remotely from cool places around the city? And not just coffee shops, but bars and breweries, hotel lounges, even gallery spaces? And what if that space was made to be ideal for working from anywhere, with wifi, coffee, accessible power outlets, and the atmosphere you want?
