As a completely remote and distributed startup from Day 1, the State of Place team is used to all things - WFH - working from home. Indeed our Founder, Mariela as called coffee shops, couches, and kitchen tables all around the world, home (office) nearing two decades. So while we haven’t had to scramble to figure out how to do figure out Zoom (we’re also a software startup, so that helps!), there’s no question that day to day life under siege by this virus is decidedly not our normal.

And yet, as the weeks unfold, and we do our weekly “water-cooler” moments before our Zoom team meetings each Monday, it’s clear that the governance, policy, infrastructure, and design of the cities we each call home - which spans three continents - has a been impact on how disrupted our normal has been. So I thought it would be illuminating to bring you our own team’s stories from Oslo, Vegas, San Jose, and the Maryland DC suburbs. I know I have been struck by just how vastly an experience we’ve each had with Covid…and I’m hoping these discrepancies highlight how much our work as citymakers has mattered - and will matter that much more, as we all collectively are forced to embrace a “new normal.”

So without further ado, please listen to our CTO, Andy; Head of Business Development, Kelliann; Machine Learning Scientist, Kaustubh; and Marketing Intern, Minah, share a little about what it's been like for them in the age of social distancing, and what they think this means for cities, livability, and innovation moving forward. I hope you are inspired and uplifted by their heartfelt stories or that they bring you some solace.

Covid City Stories, Episode 3: Four cities, Four covid stories. Why pre-Covid citymaking matters.

The Power of PlaceBy Mariela AlfonzoApr 21, 2020