Move over New York City. Say good-bye San Francisco. Of all the tech-savvy urban centers across the United States, Washington, D.C has been named the “Best City for Teleworking” in America, according to a new study released today by research firm Sperling’s BestPlaces and Intel Corporation. The phenomenon of telework has grown rapidly in recent years thanks to the proliferation of laptop computers and wireless tools and technologies. Among these is Intel (News - Alert) Centrino Mobile Technology and its network of more than 19,000 hotspots in the U.S. that are part of Intel’s Wireless Verification Program.

 

The Best Places for Teleworking study ranked cities based on the potential benefits that teleworking would offer residents in those cities. Eighty metropolitan areas in the U.S. were examined and ranked alongside other similarly sized areas. After Washington, the top cities in the very large metro area category are Boston, Atlanta, Chicago and San Francisco. The large metro area category was topped by San Jose, Calif., followed by Baltimore, Denver, San Diego and Indianapolis. Bridgeport/Stamford/Norwalk, Conn. led the medium metro area category and Boulder, Colo. headed up the small metro area list.

 

Teleworking is an advanced form of telecommuting which goes beyond simply allowing employees to work from home or an alternative location a couple of days a week and instead enables them to work at any time or place that allows them to successfully complete their work. In short, it means bringing the work to the worker instead of the worker to the work. This freedom and mobility is made possible by new technology, including laptops based on Intel Centrino Duo Mobile Technology that provide desktop equivalent performance with long battery life and secure wireless networking capabilities.

 

This new study identifies cities that hold the greatest potential for teleworking based on a host of factors, including typical commuting times, fuel prices, availability of broadband Internet access and percentage of the population in telework friendly jobs. Washington, D.C. earned the top spot with high scores in those categories. It has one of the highest percentages of white-collar workers in the study, plus the daily commute is one of the most time-consuming and costly in the U.S. A single Washington office worker who teleworks just one day each week can see savings of $488 in transportation costs and $2,708 in time savings each year. 

 

“Recent increases in fuel prices, crowded highways and security concerns have all combined to make telework increasingly important in today’s world,” said Bert Sperling, principal author of the study. “Our analysis shows that working from home even one day a week can have a huge beneficial effect for employees, companies and the entire community.”

 

-----

 

Cindy Waxer is a Toronto-based freelance journalist specializing in business and technology. She has written for publications including TIME, Fortune Small Business, Business 2.0, Computerworld, Canadian Business, and Workforce Management. To see more of her articles, please visit Cindy Waxer’s columnist page.