Remote Working Boom Is Huge for College Towns Like Knoxville
With the home becoming an increasingly acceptable office for white-collar employees, new graduates won't have to make a beeline for the big city to find high-paying jobs.
Remote work is an economic development plan.
Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg
It's now been two years since the rise of remote work enabled people to start moving out of the big cities, transforming the geographic demography of the United States. And while the initial beneficiaries were vacation destinations in the mountains and by the water, that growth model isn't likely to last. Housing costs and labor shortages are limiting how many wealthy migrants can move to places like Montana or Lake Tahoe.
For remote-work destinations to be sustainable, they need to accommodate both well-off migrants and the working-class population already in those communities. That adds up to an opportunity for many college towns. The smaller municipalities often are desirable places to live and already have stable local economies driven by higher education activities. But at the same time, many haven't had the kinds of employment opportunities for college graduates that larger cities do.