Co-working Is Back, But This Time It’s Really Boring

A few years ago, I had a pretty good scam going that got me a co-working space for a cut rate. I paid $35 a month for an app that gave me access to various co-working spaces that relied on an honor system for users logging their hours — sometimes I logged my hours accurately, sometimes I did not, and sometimes I “forgot” to log them altogether. In my defense, I was a struggling freelancer living paycheck to paycheck in New York, barely making rent, and it was difficult for me to see it as anything other than a victimless crime. The space I was “stealing” was luxurious, almost certainly flush with VC money, and never more than half-full; I didn’t feel guilty for sitting in a chair that otherwise would have been empty, quietly typing away on my laptop. Besides, paying to work is something of a scam to begin with — a scam that now, in a post-pandemic world where many are disillusioned with work full stop, feels particularly grating.
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RSK: I guess if you are a freelance person you can dictate where and how you work. Many others cannot and need the human interaction in person. Pay to work? You work from home you are paying your rent, paying your mortgage taxes and utilities or someone else is paying for your space so that argument thought cut is not looking at the whole picture of work.

Ken Notes: I see the "new" co-working space being much more that space. I see partnerships or proximity to hotels, gyms, coffee, dining, mail, meeting space and office supplies. Again destination is key, a place you would rather be than home. I also think office space will need to think about these amenities as well. EPIC has been doing this for over a decade now...