Would a MMMHQ work in a sprawled city like Houston?

[Bayou Dweller]

I would love to have a co-working space in my home town, but Houston is a giant city. Many people actually don't live in Houston, but in the 1000 surrounding 'burbs. Even myself, I live in Montrose. I know of 2 other Mustachians in my neighborhood, thanks to this forum actually. But there's so many other big neighborhoods within Houston that I am (sadly) a bit skeptical that this could work. Sure someone from the Heights or Midtown could bike to Montrose and vise-versa, but besides that it would require driving (womp womp).

The one thing I have going for me is that I try to be Outrageously Optimistic™. Therefore I know that it could work with the right mindset and people. But at the end of the day, you need a pretty set number of people to cover the expenses. I'm not FI, but I could stand do start this project without ever making any money and be totally OK with that. Therefore needing less people overall to join. As a side note: I could contribute the barbells. I've also got a decent homebrewing set up that, with some work, could be a great homebrewing setup.

Thoughts, fellow Houstonians?

[nereo]

I'm not a Houstonian, but my observations are that all cities are a collection of districts/neighborhoods.  More importantly, to make a shared office space 'work' one needs only a dozen or two individuals to join and contribute.  It doesn't really matter if it not for 99.99% of Houstonians.
You also don't really need Mustachian-minded individuals; just people who need an place to work from and like whatever 'vibe' your space puts out.

We have a shared workspace in my current town, and the town's population is <5,000.  There's a waiting list about 2 months long.

[Dr Kidstache]

Former Houstonian (Montrose & the Heights). I think you're right to be skeptical. Space is so cheap in Houston and transportation such a pain that it's tough to see a shared workspace being be cheaper/easier than home space. Even with the incentive of socializing. But maybe you can prove me wrong ;-) Maybe EaDo? More collective vibe over there and Navigation Blvd area.

[Financial.Velociraptor]

I'm on the north side.  A co-working space in your area would be a 45 minute commute each way most of the time.  I could see it working better in The Woodlands. 

[Bayou Dweller]

Former Houstonian (Montrose & the Heights). I think you're right to be skeptical. Space is so cheap in Houston and transportation such a pain that it's tough to see a shared workspace being be cheaper/easier than home space. Even with the incentive of socializing. But maybe you can prove me wrong ;-) Maybe EaDo? More collective vibe over there and Navigation Blvd area.

True. This is what I think too, a smaller area like EaDo might work. I know of one in EaDo that is mostly for professionals and not so much MMM-style.

I'm not a Houstonian, but my observations are that all cities are a collection of districts/neighborhoods.  More importantly, to make a shared office space 'work' one needs only a dozen or two individuals to join and contribute.  It doesn't really matter if it not for 99.99% of Houstonians.
You also don't really need Mustachian-minded individuals; just people who need an place to work from and like whatever 'vibe' your space puts out.

We have a shared workspace in my current town, and the town's population is <5,000.  There's a waiting list about 2 months long.

Interesting and thanks for your insights! That's a good point that you only need a certain amount of people anyway so it wouldn't take much. And I do agree that most of the people signing up probably wouldn't be mustachians, even if we branded that way (at least at first).

I'm on the north side.  A co-working space in your area would be a 45 minute commute each way most of the time.  I could see it working better in The Woodlands.

I mostly want it to be walkable or bikable for the users. I could see it working well in the Woodlands as well. It seems to be a pretty tight knit community up there with a lot of educated folks.

[tag]

Just sent you a PM... :)