SURVEY: Work From Home vs. Back in Office, Which Do You Prefer?

I was having a lighthearted debate the other day with a few friends and the general thesis of it was whether or not people genuinely enjoyed working from home or if it was something we have merely become used to in this era of COVID-19. In this group, two people are back in their office full time, one is permanently work from home with no date or plan to return, and the fourth is preparing to return to the office June 1st.

Understandably, many of us are fatigued of chatter surrounding COVID and what the world looks like after it passes, so we kind of took the approach of what professional like should look like afterwards. Being from Chicago, naturally the first thing that comes to mind is the markedly less time spent commuting — between no commute in a work from home situation to the less traffic during rush hour periods for those who do go in — it’s been noticeable and welcome.

For most Chicagoans, being back at work refers to the greater downtown business district, otherwise known as “The Loop“. However, as more and more tech companies and startups have flocked to the downtown area, The Loop has unofficially been expanded to include as north as Chicago Ave, as west as Halsted, and as south as Congress. There’s a repercussion to which says, get back to work because other Loop-based business rely on weekday foot traffic to remain in operation. After all, businesses impact other businesses so on and so forth.

So, unto you our loyal, trusty UrbanMatter readers. We have a few questions to ask you, and feel free to screenshot these and ‘@’ us on social to respond:

1. Are you back at work? If no, do you enjoy a permanent WFH set up?
2. If yes, how many days per week are you back in office?
3. What is your most consistently used method of transportation to get to and from work? Public transportation, driving, ride-sharing, walking/biking?
4. What is your favorite local food, beverage, or store located close to your work that you visit most while back in the office? Tag them and we’ll make sure they see your support!

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash