Municipalities rethink their approach as office vacancies reach record highs

Should empty offices be allowed to define the future of cities?

Offices across the country were empty during the Covid-19 pandemic. (Photo by Richard Baker/Getty Images)

Remote and hybrid work policies left over from the Covid-19 pandemic have hollowed out urban cores, and municipalities have not recovered. Beyond low levels of public-transit ridership and a commercial-real-estate crisis, empty downtowns mean fewer c…