Hybrid work has dramatically reduced the number of people working in downtown Washington, D.C., to the detriment of the Metro public transit system, small businesses, and the District’s vitality as a whole. Equally clear is the federal government’s outsized impact on the downtown’s vibrancy: as the District’s single largest employer and tenant, federal agencies are both a chief cause of the city’s current malaise and may hold the key to its rejuvenation.
