How to Buy a City’s Future: The Case for Cash, Talent, and an ROI You Can’t Refuse

Imagine a city. Not New York, London, or Paris. Picture something smaller, lesser known. Maybe it’s Tulsa, Oklahoma. Now imagine that city facing a problem—a shrinking talent pool, a diminishing tax base, and an aging population. The local leadership gathers, scratching their heads. How do you breathe life into a city that isn’t on the top ten lists of places people dream of moving to? How do you keep it from becoming a ghost town of missed opportunities and empty office spaces?

The answer? Cold hard cash.

This is no dystopian vision where money is tossed out of helicopters over a crumbling metropolis. No, this is a strategic, calculated play to fight brain drain—the phenomenon where the brightest minds pack their bags and move to more glamorous destinations. In Tulsa’s case, the solution came in the form of a bold experiment: pay people to move to your city. The Tulsa Remote program offers $10,000 to remote workers willing to relocate. The theory behind it is simple—people follow money, and cities need people to keep their economies (and tax base) alive. What happens when a city bets on talent like a VC betting on the next unicorn startup?

The short answer? It works. But let’s dig into why.

Cities, much like companies, must constantly adapt to shifting markets. In the world of geography and economics, markets are driven by the flow of people. Tulsa understood that if it wanted to compete with coastal giants, it couldn’t sit back and hope people would suddenly fall in love with their lower cost of living or wide-open spaces. They had to offer something tangible—something enticing to a generation of workers who are increasingly location-agnostic, thanks to the rise of remote work.

Think about it. These professionals aren’t tied to Silicon Valley anymore. They can do their jobs from a beach in Thailand, a café in Paris, or yes, a co-working space in Tulsa. So why Tulsa? Because Tulsa decided to woo them.

But this isn’t just a vanity project for small cities with an inferiority complex. This is strategy. Sure, giving out $10,000 per worker might sting a bit when you're looking at a city budget already tight in all the wrong places. But, as any CFO worth their salt knows, sometimes you’ve got to spend money to make money. The key is understanding that this isn’t a cash giveaway—it’s an investment. When these professionals settle down, they pay taxes. They spend money at local businesses. They buy homes, enroll their kids in schools, and become a part of the fabric of the community. The ROI? Well, it's long-term, but it’s real.

Tulsa isn’t alone in this. Cities across the U.S. are catching on. Take Bentonville, Arkansas—a place once only known as the headquarters of Walmart. It now offers up to $10,000 in Bitcoin (yes, Bitcoin) to attract tech workers. In Alabama, the Shoals region is offering $10,000 to relocate. These cities have something in common: they’re not the obvious choices for ambitious professionals. But they have leaders who understand that if you want to attract the best and brightest, you’ve got to be more proactive than just plastering up billboards about your city’s great barbecue.

There’s something deeply pragmatic about these efforts. Lesser-known cities face a unique challenge—they can’t just rely on existing reputation or cultural clout. They need to build a future where the young, educated, and driven see them as destinations, not as places to escape from. The leaders in these cities have made a fundamental calculation: it’s cheaper to pay someone to move in than to let the entire economy stall and watch property values plummet.

And while attracting remote workers is great, cities should also be looking at another group that can drive even more value—entrepreneurs. There’s a subtle magic to the way entrepreneurs operate. Unlike remote workers, who bring their jobs with them, entrepreneurs create jobs. They build something from nothing, and if they do it locally, they build it in your city.

Imagine a city that not only offers cash to individual workers but also incentives to entrepreneurs who commit to hiring locally. Picture Tulsa, or any other city, extending its offer: “Move here, start your company here, and we’ll help you build it.” Whether that’s through cash grants, tax breaks, or access to local business networks, this strategy would be a game-changer. Local businesses are the lifeblood of a vibrant economy, and entrepreneurs are the ones who create them.

Tulsa’s experiment with remote workers shows the power of putting money behind talent attraction. But the concept can and should be expanded. Think of it as building momentum—remote workers settle in, entrepreneurs follow, jobs are created, more people move in, and suddenly, you’ve gone from a city on the decline to a thriving hub of innovation and culture.

Sure, it’s a bit of a gamble. But what’s the alternative? Waiting around for the next big company to set up shop in your town? Hoping that one day your city will land on a “best places to live” list just by sheer luck? Cities like Tulsa have realized that if they want to attract talent, they need to start behaving more like businesses—aggressive, strategic, and willing to invest in their own future.

It’s not just about offering cash, though. It’s about vision. The best leaders—the ones who are truly shaping the future of their cities—understand that talent doesn’t just need a reason to come. It needs a reason to stay. And if they play their cards right, the returns on that investment could far outweigh the initial cost.

In the end, it’s about more than just saving a city from brain drain. It’s about creating a place where people want to live, work, and build something meaningful. And if a $10,000 incentive is what it takes to get the ball rolling, well, that’s not just money well spent—it’s the start of something bigger. Something sustainable. Something that turns cities like Tulsa from a dot on the map into a destination.

Further reading on this topic.