On the other hand, if the incubator is cheap and filled with interesting people, I'd probably do it just for the opportunity to interact with others.
I work with a distributed team and we get a lot done. Our developers have worked together physically for 4 days total in the space of 2 years. There are issues, but I wouldn't call the situation better or worse, but rather different. We enjoyed our time together, but our team is geographically dispersed and we make it work. Even if sometimes that means typing out our body language. :)
As an individual getting started you will want to try different enivironments until you get it right. Meaning don't blow your savings on what you think is the right environment. First experiment - check out co-working/incubator space on a rental/short-term lease basis. Try working from home for a while and be thoughtful about what you'd need to make that situation work.
Understand that every one of these articles (whether from 37s or Meta or whoever) have a big unwritten caveat of "this is what works for us." It is always useful to be exposed to new ideas and experiences this way, but it still gets a little tiresome to read the "I agree 100% this is exactly how it should be done!" comments because as with everything there is a wide spectrum of possibilities to apply to each situation.
I've been a one man band for almost 4 years now. The first three years I've worked from home. From the start it worked great. But eventually I used to spend the entire day "working" and actually doing 6-8 hours of productive work, with pockets of non-work time inbetween (which I wasted on TV, Web, reading or going for a coffee with someone). Then, at the end of the day I was both unsatisfied with the amount done, and by the fact that I was "working" for the entire day.
Now I'm renting a small office very close-by, which allows me to walk to the office and back every day. This creates a mental separation of when I'm at work and am supposed to be working, and when I'm at home and am supposed to be living my life. It's done wonders both for my productivity and overall hapiness.
Also, this allowed me to not clutter my (relatively small) flat with bunch of hardware I need at work. Main stuff I do on my laptop I can still do at home (in case of emergency, or if I sleep in or decide to work from home, which is something I allow myself, but very rarely).
On related note, I also miss low background noise/chatter, which I'm attempting (successfully at the moment) to compensate with tuning to a local radio station, as opposed to just playing my music playlists.
Working from home with a family is not a lot of fun - the end of your work day coincides with the time when everyone else gets home, like it or not.
I'm looking into options, but office space is spendy here in Italy, and I don't want someplace that takes 45 minutes to reach, either.
I currently do a mixed approach: whenever I feel I need to 'bike over' to achieve mental separation, I rent a place for the afternoon or the day in a co-working area, or I go to some library (sometimes without internet access, even better :-)
Next year as I move to the countryside with my family, where place is really cheap compared to my current place (Paris/France) we'll keep a dedicated room for product development, and another room for servers/infrastructure (garage most likely).
I think that I've adapted by becoming more nocturnal - my son goes to bed at 7 PM, I go to bed at 4-6 AM, which gives me a full "work night". The internet is quieter, the house is quiet, the phones aren't ringing - it's just me, my code, and my headphones for a good long chunk of time. If that doesn't work for you, getting out of the house could be a good thing.
Just before the new year we built a brand new office for myself in our house and it has been great. Before I was in a spare bedroom that doubled as my girlfriend's computer area and productivity just wasn't as high as it is now with my own space.
Plus, I got to fill it with a bunch of my sports stuff. You can't top that. Photos available upon request if you're into gawking at other people's workspaces.
The primary reason for me though is the social aspect. Being by myself all day for several days drives me nuts.
alternatively, i heard mysql required that all of their remote employees needed to have a separate room at home where they worked from... i think having a separate space (whether it's in your home or not) helps a lot.