Coworking, as commonly envisioned, doesn't seem to work so well in a geographically dispersed city like Houston. Commute distances and commuting are too large, and the population of freelancers and the self-employed is dispersed enough to be a big challenge to the benefits of coworking. (Serendipity being chief among these) This is despite Houston's being the 4th largest city in the US.<p>That said, the resulting isolation is still a big problem for freelancers and the self-employed here. Perhaps widespread retail coworking centers with select services (like high-end telecommuting) could work. They'd have to offer something above and beyond the local Starbucks.