YC is only 3 months. Last I checked they still expect you to come to the bay area, but only for those 3 months. After that you can do as you please.

I know this may be challenging in some situations, but I doubt YC could offer the same value remotely. For starters, many of the talks given off the record would never happen if they were being streamed and could easily be recorded. You also would have less interaction with fellow batchmates, be less involved in group office hours, and a myriad of other small details that come from being present.

For remote to work (at YC or in the workplace) I believe it needs to be fostered and prioritized, and YC as it is now was never built around making remote work. If that is ever going to work I suspect an entire batch would need to be remote and the entire experience redesigned for that batch, and that doesn't appear to be a priority for YC.