The pandemic catalyzed a tectonic shift in how Americans use cities: as places to live rather than work. The result is record-high vacancy rates in downtown office districts, and a rapid decline in retail and transit: a situation many are describing as a cataclysmic “doom loop.” In “Unbuild Downtown to Make Cities for Living,” PLATFORM editor Matthew Gordon Lasner discusses proposed solutions, including converting office buildings to housing. The problem is not only that most office buildings aren’t well suited to housing or that conversion is very expensive, but that central business districts are anathema to most Americans' notions of home. To save downtown — and avert a new financial crisis as office towers plunge in value — Lasner proposes using public subsidies to make office rents affordable to artists, makers, and startups, and to physically transform downtowns, incorporating changes such as building setbacks and courtyards, parks, and grocery stores, to make them appealing places to live.