Virtually every community in the country claims it has a great lifestyle, using it as a selling point to attract newcomers. But, with so many claiming an enviable quality of life, it is a selling point that is almost worthless as a differentiator between communities.
Nonetheless, there is something to this idea. And it’s being borne out by COVID-induced migration patterns. We’re seeing people leave big cities, especially high density areas such as downtown, in search of a more relaxed lifestyle.
In downtown Toronto, for example, the inventory of condos is rising as buyers looking instead to the suburbs or bedroom communities with more square footage and larger yards.
All of this is the result of working from home. People don’t have to worry about a long commute so they want out of the downtown congestion of a big city. And this has the American on-line publication Strategy + Business predicting a lot of vacancies in executive suites of big companies when the pandemic is over. They say executives, who have discovered this new lifestyle, will rebel against the call back to the corner office and will simply quit.
