We continue discussing how LA might change after stay-at-home orders are lifted. Today we look at work spaces. More Angelenos are telecommuting, and many will continue to do so after the orders end. What will happen to the offices they abandon? How can we design our homes to be more mixed-use, to be a place for shelter and work? Will Los Angeles loosen its zoning restrictions?
Martin Leitner, an urban designer at the firm Perkins and Will, is sheltering in place at his Burbank home. He’s putting his commute time into working, and he’s spending more time with his family. He says it’ll be tough to pass up when stay-at-home orders end.
“Right now, almost our entire lives are consolidating in what were residential neighborhoods. But based on what we're doing here today, I wonder if we can even continue to just call them residential neighborhoods. … They're much more mixed-use, maybe even blended-used neighborhoods,” Leitner says. “And do we really want to — in a few months when things are more normal than they are today — tell people that all of a sudden we can't do that anymore?”