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Comment by michaelt | Hacker News Reader

As far as I'm concerned, saving an hour of commute each day more than covers the costs of a desk and using a bit more electricity :)

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Hate this argument, because many of us deliberately live close to workplaces - and often for environmental reasons.

Yup.

In Canada, those who are overleveraged with massive mortgages far away form the office, are rewarded with mortgage deferrals and low interest rates.

Those who save money, rent, and made sacrifices to live close to work, are the ones to are losing.

The real issue is that one made a bet on a future that didnt come true. The opposite could easily have happened too. Oil prices could have hit $1k a barrel and people in the suburbs would be crying about the $500 fill up.

Except fuel prices going up was within the reasonable range of potential futures. Everyone suddenly forced to work from home wasn't.

2015 Bill gates disagrees with you.

Surely environmentalists would be glad that their car-owning colleagues are no longer driving to work?

Indeed. I would gladly take a pay cut to not have to commute if it were an option at my company.

Great for you. But not everyone has the same circumstances. I was a short walk from my office, a beautiful route I run everyday anyway. But I live in an old flat that expensive to heat. Wfh saves me nothing at all and is going to be extortionate over Christmas (additional ~5-10% of my income in bills).

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