It is more than the "crisis of social despair" -- which plagues many U.S. inner cities -- that's causing office-based jobs to shift to the suburbs, says James McKellar, professor in York's Schulich School of Business. Location and product type appear to be the key factors behind the move, along with social demographic issues.

    "Flatter organizations, the elimination of middle management, changing skills, outsourcing, information technology and the penchant to cut overhead costs, all influence attitudes about what has, historically, been the most expensive cost for any organization after payroll -- office space,"argues McKellar.

    "The car, the airport waiting room, the customer's office, even the home are now substituting for the central office," he says. McKellar adds that not only are firms opting for technology in lieu of people and space, but they are questioning how much space they need, the quality of it, and where it's located.

    As early as the 1970s there was debate over the impact technology would have on where we worked. Some experts said information technology and telecommunications would dissipate office jobs over a broad geographic area. Others maintained that the forces of centralization would succumb to the dominance of decentralization.

    One trend that might save city cores is the move to "just-in-time" office space, McKellar points out. "Tenants today are comfortable with a casual dress code. They're as likely to place a ping-pong table in a meeting room as table and chairs," says McKellar. The final factor, he adds, is good old fashioned face-to-face meeting -- something which technology, no matter how good, can never match.

    Collaboration, networking and team building still depend on personal contact. This is where downtowns have an advantage, McKellar maintains. Certain organizations thrive there because they share a cultural commonality and depend on shared norms.

    "You can't underestimate the human dimension. Downtowns are places where people connect. Canadian downtowns have excelled where their U.S. counterparts have often failed. What keeps brainpower, labour or even investors in an area is quality of life; it's the social glue that holds people in place."

    "Signature designs by world-famous architects, marble lobbies complete with atriums and waterfalls, and grand plazas with sculpture courts are not what attracts firms in the '90s."