As the speed of the internet grows faster, so too has the allure of telecommuting. The pandemic has accelerated this ongoing trend, and while some people who have been telecommuting are likely to be back in their office when it’s safe to do so, others may have found something that’s newly important to them.
As telecommuting becomes more popular, so too are the incentive programs established by city and state governments to draw in new residents. Some of these predate the pandemic — Vermont, for instance, offered remote workers $10,000 to move to the state long before the era of COVID-19.
A new article by Uri Berliner at NPR explores how this phenomenon has grown in the last year. Some cities, like Tulsa, have seen an existing program experience a massive gain in popularity. Other locations, like Northwest Arkansas, debuted their own programs during the pandemic.
For some applicants, the appeal of moving to a new place centers around its lower cost of living. For others, moving from a city to a more rural location can have its own charm. The initiative to get people to move to Arkansas doesn’t just offer them money — they’ll also throw in a bicycle to sweeten the deal.
NPR’s article also notes that Richard Florida, urbanist and author of The Rise of the Creative Class, worked with several of the locales offering these programs. It’s an intriguing opportunity, and one that might help revitalize cities and regions around the country.
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