Tulsa has spent the last few weeks in an uncharacteristic place: the national limelight. Not only was the Oklahoma city of 400,000 the site of Donald Trump’s much-discussed yet under-attended campaign rally, it’s also where, in the summer of 1921, a white mob destroyed the city’s Black Wall Street and killed hundreds of Black Tulsans, a seismic tragedy that’s been revisited as the country addresses the legacy of racist violence in America.
But for years, Tulsa has been more of an off-the-radar city, one that promoted its parks, breweries, and amenable climate to boost its appeal to workers looking to move away from the coasts. To attract a new generation of Tulsans, the city launched a philanthropy-funded incentive scheme in November 2018. The program, Tulsa Remote, awards $10,000 grants to digital nomads who land in Tulsa and stay for at least a year. Along with the cash, the George Kaiser Family Foundation provides amenities like co-working space, and a connection to a thriving (and growing) domestic ex-pat community.
