Coworking: Not Just for Big Cities
Coworking is considered by many to be an urban movement, with most coworking activity located in big cities.
But our recent census of U.S. coworking facilities shows that roughly 20% are located outside of the 50 most populated U.S. metropolitan areas (MSAs). And over 40% are outside the 10 most populated areas.
Examples of smaller cities with coworking facilities include Asheville (NC), Des Moines, Grand Rapids, Lincoln, Santa Cruz (CA) and Ft. Wayne.
We also found that a growing number of coworking facilities are located in suburbs – some well outside the urban core.
Altamont Coworking www.altamontcowork.com , for example, is located about 50 miles east of San Francisco in Tracy, CA. Another example is Satellite Coworking www.thesatelliteinc.com , located 31 miles south of San Jose in Felton, CA.
It will come as no surprise to those familiar with SF Bay Area traffic that both of these facilities stress the advantages of using their space instead of commuting.
Other suburban coworking facilities, such as Converge Coworking www.convergenj.com in Union, NJ, are located in closer-in suburbs.
The growing geographic diversity of coworking facilities reflects the broad appeal of the coworking movement.
Steve King is a partner at Emergent Research and is leading their current coworking study. www.coworkinglabs.com
