When I first started working at home, I missed the chit-chat in the hallways and lunch with colleagues in the cafeteria. I'm an extrovert. All that time at home by myself made me a little insane. My freelancer friends in New York City and Boston told me that they rented out desks in writers' offices. They said it helped keep them focused, and they met interesting people, while eating their lunches in the break room.
I spent a few days trying to find a space like that here in the wilds of suburbia. There was nothing. There are a lot of freelance writers and other entrepreneurs out here. They camp out in the Barnes and Noble cafe and in Starbucks. So, I know they exist, but they haven't set up a writers' office.
I played around with the idea of opening up my own freelance office. I picked out the building that I would rent out. I imagined how much I would charge patrons and how it would be the coolest office ever.
But then abandoned the idea. I didn't think it would fly out here for the same reasons that the restaurants suck out here. Even though we're just 30 minutes from downtown Manhattan, suburbia is suburbia and tastes change once you cross the bridge. People have enough room in their homes for office space and nobody would be willing to pay money for space, when there's plenty of free space in the library and the coffee house.
Still, I'm very envious of people who work in these places.