Atascadero’s working adults seek out co-working spaces

With 27% of Atascadero’s population consisting of adults between the ages of 20 and 39, there’s a growing demand for co-working spaces as more of those adults move toward remote work.

Greg Squires co-founded The Co-Op, a co-working space in Atascadero, to help meet the increased demand for workspaces. Squires explained that many people who live in Atascadero find work outside of the city, often working remotely.

“A lot of people want to live here but need to work outside the area and that creates a lot of remote work situations and gives a need for there to be co-working spaces and a place to go and be productive,” Squires said.

These remote jobs have left many workers in pursuit of the camaraderie and focused environment found in an office, a trend that Squires believes may have picked up post-pandemic.

“COVID definitely changed the way that we work and employees engage with employers, so that's certainly been a cause for an increase in the need for remote work situations,” Squires said.

A member of The Co-Op for several months now, Madison Treiber said this space gives her the ability to focus on work and collaborate with others — two areas she struggled with while working from home.

“I worked remotely from home for the past three years leading up to this, which I loved in a lot of ways. There's a lot of flexibility that comes along with that but some things that make it difficult, like motivation and focus,” Treiber said. “Working at home can be really isolating and you lose the opportunity to sort of connect in person with other people, which is, as we all know, good for our mental health but also can be really collaborative.”

Squires added that some users of The Co-Op aren’t regulars but occasional visitors.

“The type of customers that come to a co-working space are people that maybe are visiting for the day. They're visiting family and they need a place to be productive on a Thursday or Friday so they can take a long weekend, so typically those are buying a day pass and working for a half to a full day," Squires said.

Those who’d like more information on The Co-Op can find it here .