Artisans often require large spaces and tools that are expensive for the individual, but affordable as a group. Woodworking, Pottery, and Boat Yards are examples of such places. People pay to use the space, and it also doubles as a social spot for honing your craft and learning from your peers.
One thing I’ve never seen before is a collective for Fabrication Labs. Vancouver has a few companies that do rapid prototyping, and this in essence is what a Fab Lab is. Those companies are closed to the public however. If I had space and about $20,000 laying around I’d buy my own fab lab, but the reality is that these kinds of tools are too costly for the individual.
It would be nice to get Fab Labs into Schools, both Secondary and University level – as well as create spaces where people can use the tools of the future to build and create new objects – or maybe just make a replacement cover for a cell phone.