Something very similar to this has popped up recently in Manchester - http://www.fablabmanchester.org/

Unlike the one in the article, there's no subscription charge that I know of; it's free to use at certain times (with the caveat that you might not always be able to get onto the equipment you want to use) or you pay to reserve it at other times of the week. It's partly funded by local authorities and government and is in addition to another independent hacker space in the city centre, MadLab.

This might be old news in the US, but I was really impressed with it when I saw it. I'd never seen a 3D printer before!

Techshop is great, though they should expanded or be more free with their franchising rights so more locations could be open. I personally know 3 people who's wanted to franchise and been told they're not interested. Shame.

Bigger != better

In fact, a lot of the time the inverse is true (smaller == better).

Maybe not, but closer == better. Because they're tools..

For the equivalent of 2 years membership I can purchase an impressive array of new and used shop tools and accessories and be well on my way.

Here is a good example of what a properly equipped desktop machine shop might look like with the equivalent of 4 years membership.

http://workshop.modelengines.info/shoppics.html

My favorite is the lathe-mounted microscope. http://microscope.modelengines.info/taigmicroscope.html

"an impressive array" is quite different from being able to go somewhere and know it will just be there. Also, you don't have to worry about storing everything in your limited space, and there is also a cultural aspect. TechShop is the maker equivalent of a Gym. You could also buy a decent set of freeweights for the cost of a gym membership.

Let's stay with your premise. Techshop is the maker equivalent of a centralized mainframe for developers. You could also buy a laptop for the cost of a membership.

My point is you need both. Home desktop (PC or machine shop) and access to equipment and resources you can't build or afford yourself. In the case of machine shops that means waterjets, plasma torches, cnc mills, etc. For developers it means inexpensive hardware borne of economies of scale and high quality open source software tools.

The reality is however, that the Techshop that opened in Beaverton, OR in 2009 has since closed.

In a sour economy you cancel the gym membership and buy a pair of running shoes.