Graphics by Jeff Allen and Byeonghwa Jeong The slow return of office workers to downtowns in the United States and Canada has raised fears of the urban doom loop, a downward spiral in which empty offices and related decline in retail, restaurant, and entertainment expenditures downtown lead to declining rents and land values, decreases in the commercial property tax base,…
Year: 2025
A “Flight to Quality”? Not So Fast.
Research: Karen Chapple and Byeonghwa JeongGraphics: Scott McCallum, Byeonghwa Jeong, Jeff Allen As the COVID-19 pandemic waned, economists began writing about a “flight to quality,” the phenomenon whereby new commercial office buildings with more amenities are able to maintain net effective rents even as rents decline on new leases in older buildings. These green, energy-efficient buildings typically include not only…
Transit-oriented communities and post-pandemic urban resilience in Toronto
Research: Amir Forouhar, Ramesh Pokharel, Karen Chapple, Jeff AllenGraphics: Isabeaux Graham, Jeff Allen The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted urban mobility, work, and social interaction. But how resilient were our neighbourhoods? Our study, published in the Journal of Transport Geography (2025), investigates how transit-oriented communities (TOCs) – dense, mixed-use neighbourhoods near frequent public transit – fostered recovery in Toronto. By analyzing mobile…