Sarah Holder at Citylab has an interesting article on a program that paid people $10,000, a year of co-working, and a subsidized apartment to move to Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Traditionally, cities looking to spur their economies may offer incentives to attract businesses. But at a time when Americans are moving less frequently than they have in more than half a century, and the anticlimactic race to host an Amazon HQ2 soured some governments on corporate tax breaks, Tulsa is one of several locales testing out a new premise: Pay people instead.
I love this idea, and hope that after the permanent step-up in remote work from the virus we see much more internal mobility between cities in the United States.
I want to see more initiatives like this because it means that the perspective on remote workers is shifting. Similar approach chose Estonia, as a country, first building proper digital infrastructure for its citizens and since 2014 opening it to anyone interested in e-Residency. What Tulsa is doing is essentially, supplying the other end for the same group of people. It would be interesting to see collaborations and competitions of cities/governments seeking location independent workers.
Hi Matt. I don’t know if you know this, but your name is Bavarian and it means “Millpath” A walkway next to a flour mill. Thought you’d enjoy knowing that.
I have never had a blog before and was wondering if you could recommend a source for me to read about how it all works. I am normally a scientist but want to pursue some family history writing.
Cool! I had heard some of that meaning from my sister who studies genealogy.