Work from definitely destroyed the downtown CRE market. In SF if you go to the financial district it is a ghost town with homeless scattered about. Buildings are selling for 10-15% of 2019 valuations.
The local subway here, BART, is up to 44% of 2019 ridership, it was 33% in 2023. I went once to meet my friend for lunch in downtown SF and the train car I was in had 3 people in it. BART is essentially bankrupt and now needs a bailout from Newsom & his cronies.
So you may hate RTO but it isn't free. City finances are collapsing and tax collection is DOA. Restaurants are closing and even chains like Whole Foods & CVS are abandoning SF. In SF because of so much inflation you can't really eat anywhere for less than $50 unless you want to eat a sandwich or salad. I had a salad in downtown SF it was $40. The same salad was $16 in 2019.
In short downtowns are fucked.