Requiem for the American CBD: The Impact of COVID-19 and a Dispersed Workforce

Digital communication technologies have rendered the American Central Business District (CBD) obsolete, and one can expect the corporate headquarters function to be removed in varying degrees from the CBD as this decade further unfolds. The COVID-19 pandemic forced corporate America to widely embrace a dispersed workforce model. We argue that corporations will continue to embrace this model for profit driven reasons, while employees will also demand its continuance for another set of reasons: some monetarily based with others rooted in flexibility and the ability to reside anywhere. In the meantime, the public will perceive such moves as environmentally friendly and enhancing worker safety. The traditional CBDs and their adjoining sports/entertainment districts will likely face significant near-term fiscal challenges, which for some cities will be magnified by poor public policy decisions and increasing crime.