And it’s not the only place to do it.
In May, Vermont passed legislation that lets it offer $10,000 in tax breaks to remote workers who live there for two years, which it will start giving out this January. In October, Maine expanded a program that offers student loan forgiveness to certain recent graduates who choose to live and work (not only remotely) in the state. Both are efforts to stymie brain drain and population loss as the regions’ residents age. Similarly, Montana invites people who grew up in the state but have since moved to “Come Home to Hunt” each hunting season, giving them reduced license prices in the hopes that they’ll remember how nice their hometown was.
There are, of course, some rather stringent screening things to go through before being accepted. For Tulsa, this is added;
To make sure participants don’t just snag the cash and then hie away to Portland or Seattle, the foundation will space out their checks: Workers will get an initial housing stipend up front, but will have to pick up $500 per month in person, and wait to get the rest of the bonus at the end of their first year.
And to make them stick around for longer, the program is designed to build community, with social events like wine tastings and panel discussions programmed just for this cohort. They’ll all work for free at 36 Degrees North, a co-working space that calls itself a “basecamp for entrepreneurs.” And, if they want to take advantage of a rent discount, three months of free utilities, and a year of free furniture, they’ll even live together in the same building in the Tulsa Arts District, right around the corner from 36 Degrees North.
More w/links @ Work Remotely From Tulsa, OK, For One Year, Get $10,000 - CityLab
As for me, I’d never move there for a number of reasons. Tornadoes. Weather. And the politics. Especially having a bunch of Left Coast and Weak Coast progressives moving there to mess things up.
