From their two-bedroom condo in a high-rise tower in San Francisco, Kristina and Grayson Dove enjoyed all downtown had to offer. Great restaurants, nightlife and theater lay just outside the door.

Then came March 2020. The pandemic sent employees home to work remotely. The city rolled up its sidewalks and pulled the shades.

Kristina, an event and food director for Twitter, began working from her bedroom. “I didn’t leave the room all day.” In June, she had twins, which took over the second bedroom. Grayson, a biotech auctioneer, began taking calls in the living room. Without a yard or even a balcony, they rarely went outside.

“Once COVID hit, the luster of the city was really gone,” Kristina said.

The couple are in their 30s and have been married four years. She’s from New York, and he’s from the Bay Area. The city felt like home to them. Until it didn’t.

“We saw an influx of petty crime and a loss of the culture that made the city so great,” she said. “Homeless encampments were growing because of the downturn in business. I no longer felt safe or welcome.”

That change, the need for space and the fact she no longer had to commute to work led the Doves to do what many across America have done: They left the city for suburbia. The Doves moved 18 miles north to a five-bedroom, 4,800-square-foot, two-story house on a near-acre.

Now, besides the couple’s bedroom, the boys have a bedroom, Kristina and Grayson each have an office, and they have a guest room. And that’s just inside. “Before we had no outdoor space at all. Now we have a pool. We’re barbecuing and love just being in the yard,” Kristina said.

Tracy McLaughlin, a top Bay Area Realtor and author of “Real Estate Rescue: How America Leaves Billions Behind in Residential Real Estate and How to Maximize Your Home’s Value.” says the Doves have plenty of company.

“Because of COVID, many adults had an opportunity to live somewhere else and work,” McLaughlin said. Many formerly office-based workers who temporarily moved out of cities during the pandemic found they liked where they went better than where they were, so they made the decision to pivot.

Many companies are accommodating the change long term.

“Because we can take our laptops anywhere,” McLaughlin said, “that lets us work and live in places we never dreamed of. If people can still earn what they did in the city, and enjoy some breathing room, they are not going back.”

If the pandemic has a silver lining, McLaughlin added, it’s that it made people try something different, and many, like the Doves, found another way of life that worked better.

Nationwide, the housing market is hot as the pandemic has driven homebuyers to make permanent changes. Here’s what McLaughlin said buyers want:

• Indoor-outdoor living. “If they are going to move out of the city, they want to touch the ground,” McLaughlin said. “They want yards. They want a place where they can entertain outside, and enjoy outdoor recreation and feel safe.”

• Room for exercise. Having a yoga studio or workout room is a big selling feature. When gyms closed, then reopened with limited capacity, people began creating places in their homes to help them feel healthy.

• Walking trails. Homeowners want to walk outside with their dogs. They don’t want to have to drive to a dog park.

• Safer neighborhoods. “People can deal with a year of not going to restaurants or bars, but not with also having homes or cars broken into or homeless people living on their street,” she said.

• Workspace. Even if it doesn’t have a dedicated home office, every home must have a place to work, preferably one with a view.

• Outbuildings. Since the pandemic, guest houses are more desirable. Accessory dwelling units have been on the rise. Whether for boomerang kids or in-laws, they allow families to be close without living together.

• Simple technology. Homebuyers want easy technology. They don’t want crazy lighting systems. They want great internet, solid cell service and performance right away.

• No fixers. Buyers don’t want houses that need a lot of work. “Buyers want turnkey. They don’t have the bandwidth to remodel,” she said.

Marni Jameson is the author of six home and lifestyle books. Contact her at marnijameson.com.