hunger for public space

In my non-scientific observation, I get the sense that there is a strong desire for public spaces that goes unfulfilled, at least around here in Washington. The majority of the space around here is either commercial and/or restricted in access. All this has become evident as I have been trying to organize events for my photography meetup.

Consider our monthly meeting space, the local coffee shop. The coffee shop is a great place to meet up because it's not too quiet (like a library) and not too loud (like a bar) so people can have conversations at reasonable volumes. However, most coffee shops are small and cannot easily sustain a group of more than six to eight people without the group starting to dominate the venue in terms of space and noise volume. Plus, I get the feeling that most coffee shop proprietors prefer that people just get their coffee and go just so they can make way for other customers to come through. I don't get this feeling everywhere, but it seems to be rare when any shopkeeper welcomes people lingering for a meeting.

We've entertained an idea of having a projector-based slideshow presentation of photos at some meeting in the future, but I doubt there's any chance any coffee shop is going to let us set up a screen. So I went out in search for some additional venues. The Apple Store used to have a section of chairs in front of a large projection screen where the staff would give demos and tutorials. We thought of asking them if we could come use their setup for one evening a month. Well, when I showed up to ask them, they dismantled the seating section and screen to make way for more retail shelving. Understandable. The local public library meeting room is the next place I went to check out. Depending on the library, I could reserve anything from a room with a conference table to an auditorium. Both would definitely work for what we wanted to do. However, the rules and regulations involved really put a damper on things: the library closes relatively early in the evening (9:00 pm at latest), no collection of money of any sort is to take place (we collect $1 event fees to help offset our operational cost), and no food and drink is allowed. From there, I started investigating some local art galleries to see if they would be willing to host a meeting in their space. Some seemed ok with the idea, although some wanted to charge, and other places didn't look like it could sustain an audience (no chairs or tables).

The search is still on for a Metro-accessible meeting place where we have a little more room to gather, share, and present on a weeknight evening, although I'm sort of running out of ideas.

In addition, I'm on a search for a place that would be willing to host an photography show of our members' work. I need to find a venue that would be (1) open to us holding a show event (opening night) there, (2) willing to keep our framed photos on display for a month and possibly helping to sell the photos (they would receive a commission in that case), (3) preferably have patrons who would appreciate photography, and (4) be accessible by Metro. Anyone have any ideas?

Beyond my particular problems finding public space, I was thinking of this issue in a broader sense. Is there any place other than a coffee shop or a bar where people can meet and be social with a purpose? If not, how can this problem be resolved? Is this where members of the community and/or the local government that represents them need to get involved? Can and should commercial space be balanced between retail and public use? I wonder what the architecture and urban planning gurus have to say about this.

I know I am not the only one searching for spaces and answers.