A year after Tulsa Remote launched, the first participants — a mix of expats from expensive coastal cities, wanderlusty young adults, and those with roots in the region — say they’ve found many of the things they were looking for: a more comfortable and affordable quality of life, new neighbors they like, enough of an economic cushion to ease the stress of buying new furniture, and a fresh start. Many say they’ll stick around past the end of the one-year program. More than that: Some of them tell stories of positive personal transformation that are so dramatic, they might appear too perfect, almost canned. But after checking in with participants over the course of eight months, I found that many of them remained just as effusive. Maybe it’s something about Tulsa. Or maybe it’s something about Tulsa Remote.

According to an analysis of U.S. Census and Bureau of Labor Statistics data by the remote work consultancy Global Workspace Analytics and Flexjobs, telecommuting grew more than 150% between 2005 and 2017. This year, the American Community Survey found that the fastest-growing commute was no commute, as work-from-home arrangements become more popular everywhere.

What Happened When Tulsa Paid People to Work Remotely

I love Tulsa.  It’s kind of like a really great restaurant you want to tell all of your friends about but you don’t because if everyone knows about it the place gets too crowded or the food quality slips.  But for a city to pay remote workers to come live and work is certainly a grand experiment.

My #1 Project currently lives in Owasso, a suburb of Tulsa.  He could have gotten a job anywhere but decided to settle and stick roots in the Tulsa metro.

The Citylab article is long but worth reading if you’re interested in tele-commuting and remote work issues.

Here’s a taste of Oklahoma for y’all.