Coworkers, sans Cubicles

Green Brooklyn’s post about a new place called Treehouse reminded me of my fascination with the concept of coworking. According to trusty Wikipedia:

Coworking is an emerging trend for a new pattern for working. Typically work-at-home professionals or independent contractors or people who travel frequently end up working in relative isolation. Coworking is the social gathering of a group of people, who are still working independently, but who share values and who are interested in the synergy that can happen from working with talented people in the same space.

After perusing some coworking spaces’ websites, I was skeptical about the vague mentions of “shared values” that coworking community members claim to have. Before joining, how are you supposed to know what those “values” are going to be and whether you’d share them?

But then I thought about who would join a coworking community, and realized that the claim of “shared values” makes sense to an extent—coworking appeals to people who have an entrepreneurial, independent spirit but are interested in sharing resources with others. People who want coworkers but no cubicles.

I wasn’t surprised to uncover a number of coworking spaces around New York City where various graphic designers, programmers, writers, editors, activists, and other freelancers, entrepreneurs, and telecommuters gather: New Work City in SoHo, Coworking Brooklyn in Williamsburg, Ditmas Workspace in Ditmas Park. There are even official work meetings (for people who don’t officially work together!) such as Jelly.

Some coworking spaces have taken the idea of “shared values” a little bit further. Treehouse and Green Spaces, located in the same building in Downtown Brooklyn, are committed to environmental sustainability—both in running their facilities and in the work that their members are engaged in. Treehouse is geared toward designers who care about environmental issues, and Green Spaces serves as an incubator for new green businesses.