Want to Move to Our Town? Here's $10,000 and a Free Bike.

The Tulsa Remote program recruiting remote workers to take up residence in the city has proven a success. The first cohorts were chosen in 2018 and since then, the initiative has seen the financial impact: $62 million in new labor income for the local economy, new jobs, and more than 90 percent of participants who stayed beyond the program deadline.

In an attempt to spur the economy and reverse years of a declining population, Tulsa, Oklahoma is paying remote workers $10,000 to live in the city for a year. The carefully-selected 100 members of this project, known as Tulsa Remote, are treated to subsidized housing, several perks, and a curated experience designed to create a sense of community and belonging in hopes that they choose to remain in Tulsa. The first phase resulted in 25 percent of participants purchasing homes, a step toward the long-term economic and social boost the experiment was designed for.

In a bid to revitalize the local economy, Topeka, Kansas is attracting residents through the Choose Topeka program. The city is paying up to $10,000 for remote workers who move to Topeka. Other Midwestern cities like Tulsa, Oklahoma, have successfully launched similar programs with a retention rate of 90 percent of applicants who stay beyond the first year. The program seeks to strengthen the economic and social fabric of the city.

With nearly one in five Germans working in manufacturing, the closing of steel mills and coal mines spelled trouble. Instead of despairing, blue-collar cities such as Dortmund leapt into the future. State and local officials in Dortmund expanded the technical university, gave start-up capital to entrepreneurs, and offered newly built office space to young companies. Unemployment is falling fast, and the city seems to have avoided the sense of alienation that has led to a rise in populist sentiment elsewhere.

A 9.1-megawatt community solar farm built on a contaminated Superfund site in Waukegan, Illinois, is now providing guaranteed energy bill savings to about 1,000 low-income households. The project successfully transformed polluted land into a productive asset that also generates lease payments for the local school district.

Government initiatives, certification programs, ecological consultants, and international environmental associations are all part of Singapore's concerted effort to coexist with its wildlife and reduce impacts of climate change like air pollution and stress.

The Built to Last program, run by the Philadelphia Energy Authority, began as a pilot in 2021, but in the face of increased demand, the city recently granted $5 million in its budget to “future-proof” homes with electric heat pump HVAC systems, rooftop solar, electric appliances and other repairs that create more energy-efficient homes for low-income families. Since 2021, the program has repaired over 100 homes and has about 200 currently in progress.

In an effort to restore a sense of urbanism and community to the city, CityPark repurposed an old manufacturing plant to develop a 32-acre soccer campus, attracting sports teams, fans and other patrons to the city for games, shopping, dining and other festivities. During CityPark’s first season, it brought in an extra $73 million in revenue for the city.

The UCSD-Alacrán Community Station is a sanctuary neighborhood for migrants fleeing violence in their countries of origin that allows them to participate in building a community and new life for themselves. The neighborhood houses about 1,800 people on three acres and features a health clinic, food hub and school.

After the highway’s removal in 2014, Rochester’s Inner Loop was transformed into Adventure Place, as part of the new Neighborhood of Play, which reimagined the urban landscape, featuring retail spaces, bike lanes and affordable housing options. Since the highway was filled in, more than $200 million in new investment has been generated. Moreover, several other cities, including New Orleans and Baltimore, are beginning to follow in their footsteps.