If you thought coworking was just something Millennials did in the big city, think again. Sure, startups in major cities were some of the first to embrace coworking as a better alternative to a cramped apartment or coffee shop, but the attractiveness of a shared office space is catching on in Massachusetts’ Gateway Cities.

Many professionals in Gateway Cities have the second bedroom and extra space for a home office, but that doesn’t mean they should forsake other office options. While telecommuting has changed the way we work today, one of the most frequently reported drawbacks to the home office is its lack of community. Besides the isolation inherent in the home office, management needs employees to congregate in order to build culture and collaboration − and coworking is an attractive alternative. With so many options today, workers aren’t just motivated by a paycheck − they are seeking fulfillment and personal growth.

There has also been a shift towards job flexibility. It is becoming part of the unwritten (and often written) social contract between employees and employers; it’s absolutely one of the main things people are looking for when striking out on their own. This means being able to work where, when and how they choose to get the job done.

No matter how nice the home office, it isn’t always the best setting. The beauty of going in to a shared office is the opportunity to focus on the job at hand without worrying about the amenities. Plugging into a well-designed, clean, high-tech shared office environment loaded with coffee, snacks, people, events and energy is like having productivity on demand.

Partnering With Higher Ed In Lowell

Our strategic partnerships in Gateway Cities like Lowell, Worcester and New Bedford show three distinct varieties of the opportunity that coworking represents in different part of the commonwealth. The UMass-Lowell Innovation Hub is a university-supported, technology-centric space that allows access to engineering, prototyping and makerspace. The Running Start coworking space in Worcester is run by an independent entrepreneur, but interacts with startup communities surrounding Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Clark University. And with help from the New Bedford Economic Development Council, Groundwork! was able to secure a build-out grant from MassDevelopment. Because 73 percent of Workbar members live within 25 minutes of their main Workbar location, these Gateway City locations allow unprecedented access to coworking in Massachusetts.

Estimates indicate 50 percent of businesses will have a mobile working policy by 2017, and by 2020, 70 percent of people will work away from the office as often as they work at a desk. As we get used to the fact that most of our work can be done anywhere at any time, people (and companies) are figuring out how to provide the best work environment for this mobile workforce.

This is leading to a rise in coworking as an alternative to the daily commute or the lonely home office. Here’s an example of how the rising costs of cities makes Gateway Cities an attractive option: the cost of the Running Start membership is much less than the $244 per month commuter rail pass (and it comes with free coffee and parking). With access to 17 locations all over the state, you aren’t locked in to one location, either. You can have a home base near your house or book a VC meeting in a downtown conference room – all in the Workbar network.

Gateway City coworking spaces, and their use by people who would regularly commute to the city, has multiple environmental benefits, too. Most obviously, it takes some cars off the road, but a secondary benefit stems from the nature of the sharing economy itself. From the electricity to the infrastructure to the amenities, sharing resources in a coworking space is easier on the environment than the impact of individual home offices.

Only a few years ago, it was a strange concept to provide employees a gym membership stipend as a perk. In today’s job market, this type of wellness program is an increasingly common part of many companies’ competitive edge. The same will be true for shared office membership, for similar reasons: it’s just healthier and more productive to have quality places to work! Plus, it signifies that the culture of the company empowers its workers to make the most of their day.

Bill Jacobson is cofounder and CEO of Workbar.