[nrfulton]

All of the hackerspaces I've been to in the past 15 years are still around:

St. Louis: https://archreactor.org/

Pittsburgh: https://hackpgh.org/

Boston (albeit bummed they left their Somverville location): https://www.artisansasylum.com/

Many undergraduate-focused higher ed institutions have copied the makerspace/hackerspace model, primarily as an amenity for students. These are, in some cases, clopen to the public (sic). Public libraries have also copied the model.

Reviewing the data, AFAICT:

1. The hackerspace-as-business model largely didn't work.

2. The community-run 501(c)3 model remains viable in mid-sized cities.

3. Organizations like hacker spaces have a really hard time of it in larger cities, mostly because of rent.

4. In places that are too rural or too expensive to support hackerspaces, other institutions often provide partial solutions which are not hackerspaces per se but offer similar amenities.

Given that the primary barrier seems to be real estate, I am honestly mildly surprised that major donor hasn't tried to seed a legacy by copying the Carnegie Library formula but for hackerspaces. Seems like a much better legacy-building project than adding an extra half bajillion to a university endowment or starting yet another charter school experiment.