‘World’s largest small town’ offering $10,000 for people to move there
A city that has nicknamed itself the ‘world’s largest small town’ is offering outsiders $10,000 to pick up their lives and move and work there.
Tulsa, which is Oklahoma’s second largest city, is enticing flexible American workers with money.
‘Hi, remote workers! Looking for a new start?’ states the Tulsa Remote Program website. ‘We offer a $10,000 grant to help you make Tulsa your new headquarters and your new home.’
The program purports to be ‘building and fostering a thriving remote work community in Tulsa’ and offering ‘resources to help newcomers thrive’ as well as ‘an active and supportive community’.
To be eligible, applicants must be authorized to work in the US, currently have full-time remote employment outside of Oklahoma, and have lived outside the state for a year before applying. They must also be at least 18 years old and be able to move to Tulsa within 12 months of being accepted into the program.
Selected applicants will be required to go through a 30-minute English-language virtual interview with program staff, and pass a background check and income verification.
The $10,000 grant will be provided through monthly disbursements to renters or homebuyers, or as a lump sum after purchasing a qualifying home.
More than 2,500 remote workers have already moved to Tulsa, according to the program.
It anecdotally has been working.
‘I can honestly say that moving to Tulsa is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made,’ a new resident, Montana Cain, told the Mirror US on Tuesday.
‘I’ve grown my personal and professional networks, and I genuinely feel like I have been able to find my people.’
Tulsa, which was once the ‘oil capital of the world’, recorded a population of about 411,000 in the 2022 US Census Bureau.
It is not the only city in the Sooner State working to boost its appeal.
Officials of the state’s biggest city, Oklahoma City, are considering a proposal to erect the tallest skyscraper in the US and the fifth highest in the world there. The ‘Legends Tower’ would be 1,907 feet, surpassing One World Trade Center in New York City which is currently the tallest in America.
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