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middlewingding t1_ixjfvc2 wrote

Where are the labs going to up and move to? San Fran? Austin? Hip and techie but outrageously expensive too.

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gregzhoba t1_ixkdi2w wrote

A lot of them are moving out to the suburbs. I know multiple biotechs/pharmas that moved to Lexington, concord, Waltham, etc

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Nomahs_Bettah t1_ixklvr1 wrote

I am...absolutely fine with this? This sounds like a good thing.

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StarbeamII t1_ixmsb3y wrote

The transit options out there in some of the suburbs are basically non-existent, so it'll force people to drive, exacerbating traffic. Boston and Cambridge have much, much better transit access, hence the growth there.

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Nomahs_Bettah t1_ixnl571 wrote

Will it force people to drive (which personally I’m not that opposed to)? If the labs are closer to their homes in these suburban towns, that will mean less traffic coming into the city, and shorter commutes. If the labs moving out to cheaper land means that they offer flexible or part-time WFH hours for positions where this is possible, even better.

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StarbeamII t1_ixnme82 wrote

If your lab is in an office park in Lexington or Bedford or much of Waltham, there's no option to get there by transit, especially if you live in another suburb. Those are also not exactly affordable places either. If you want to work there you have to drive in. Whereas the MBTA network is basically designed to bring people into Boston itself, so there are loads of viable transit options that don't clog up the roads.

Most biotech lab work has to be done on-site. That's part of the reason why building commercial lab space is so popular nowadays post-pandemic - while office spaces sit vacant as their employees WFH, bio labs don't face that risk as their tenants can't do that.

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Nomahs_Bettah t1_ixnub8o wrote

But that traffic isn’t going into the city, and I’ve found that most people in wealthy suburbs are averse to transit anyway. Particularly if they’re building in Lexington, for example; it’s also a shorter commute for people in that area than Lexington to Cambridge. I think that people will drive in is fine.

Lab work has to be done on-site, but I’m also thinking of all the positions that can do hybrid; like legal, HR, etc.

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CorbuGlasses t1_ixkl5ek wrote

This isn’t by choice. It’s because there is so little available lab space left in Cambridge and when it is available is incredibly expensive. If you’re a smaller or startup outfit without deep pockets, the suburbs is the only place you can find available and affordable space.

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dny6 t1_ixm9x1d wrote

Yea, not really, and these companies have a lot of difficulty hiring good talent. Astrazeneca built a sprawling headquarters in Waltham and then abandoned it only a few years later for Cambridge because they couldn’t compete

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bryanhealey t1_ixoig3y wrote

as always around here, that's just a transit problem.

I would have no problem living in Boston and working in Waltham, except the only available option is the commuter rail, and then getting to the actual office would involve... an Uber? or shuttle? no idea.

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dny6 t1_ixr55cy wrote

Personally I would prefer working in Kendall with or without transit. Networking in the beating heart of an industry is a very real thing.

But yes you are right

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aytay617 t1_ixna9nw wrote

I would wager that MANY more would follow if public transportation was improved to these locations. Lower cost, easier access for employees living outside of the city, less non-essential regulations...

But, in the context of the conversation, I think that it would be a really interesting to see the results of a hypothetical poll that surveys life science employees asking if they would be interested in housing that is subsidized by their employers IF it meant living in a building that was dedicated to that purpose. I would bet that the response would be overwhelmingly positive amongst the younger, single employees, whose salaries have not yet reached a level where they can sustain themselves. Additionally, it would probably be a HUGE advantage for the sponsoring company/companies in terms of attracting and retaining talent and in productivity, as employees wouldn't be traveling from afar, may be able to leave bad living arrangements, etc.

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TheSausageKing t1_ixkllyj wrote

They’re moving to places like San Diego, NJ, and North Carolina.

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