The library?

I’m sure your employer has an office you could use.

Unfortunately this is probably as close as you’ll get if you’re trying to stay completely free OP

What are you looking for in a space? If you just want a table, you could try coffee shops, but it would be rude not to buy something every hour or so. While the table itself is "free," someone is still paying rent, and they pay rent by you buying coffee.

If you want a table, access to a copier for occasional prints, and a space nobody would bother you for several hours, you could try the library.

If you want a table, access to a copier, a conference room, a place you can leave stuff overnight, and a break room, expect to pay. If someone has land to put something like that on, they're not letting the public use it for free. Nobody is sitting on an office they're going to just open the doors to.

I assume OP is in a full remote work situation where the is no office in Richmond for them to work. Hence the desire for a space that's of no cost to them since the employer won't pay for it.

VMFA could be used as a free work space, also have $2.50 bottomless coffee!

Damn good idea right here. This is what I’m talkin about.

You can even reach their free WiFi out in the grass/statue area.

I’ve spent the past two days out there in this beautiful weather “working remote” haha.

No kidding, I’m getting on that!

My company doesnt have a physical location at all. Every single employee, even the ceo, is Remote, in 5 tomezones. Our company is pure revenue and has $0 debt. Its byod (bring your own devices). The company only pays salaries/benefits, theres no rent, no leases, no debt.

We're basically a union of software developers that staff augment other companies remotely.

This is becoming more common.

Not free, but what I did is I built a 10x12 foot shed in my back yard and insulated it and put a mini split hvac unit on it. Simple drywall/vinyl plank floor. Detached office.

Hotel lobbies lmao!

For comparison, $3 coffee * twice a day * 20 business days in a month = $120. That is already greater than the "pay-as-you-go" monthly membership dues at gather (which includes free coffee all day).

Op should just join a paid co-working space.

preface: i’m not a paid shill for gather; i just really struggled socially and mentally from working at home and having gather as an office has been a great decision

i’m also a remote worker and tbh joining gather at the pay-as-you-go tier has been a great decision. the one i go to downtown is basically all i’d want in an office:

• right next to a pulse stop
• bottomless coffee (that’s actually good!), as well as nitro cold brew
• beer taps open every day at 4pm
• cozy office with high ceilings
• great patio, for when it’s nice out
• typical office stuff (microwaves, printer(!), phone booths, etc.)
• cool staff who throw lil events every few days
• etc etc

i’d tried previously going to cafes and libraries to work, but neither really cut it - cafes always had annoying music with no privacy, and wifi at the library sucks. considering all the amenities they provide, the cost for gather is actually kinda reasonable imo, but i justify it (which is a bit high) bc of how much i personally value having a “second place” to go to for a full day (and being around others literally at all during the day) and the fact that my salary is higher than it would be if i was working someplace in-town.

there are still days that i’ll spend half a day at home and half at a coffee shop, but for my money, a proper coworking space is worth the investment.

kinda sorta imo

i tried coworking at the libbie mill library and the wifi literally didn’t tick above like 2 or 3 mbps. zoom calls and downloads were literally impossible.

fwiw blanchard’s has bottomless coffee for like $3.50 (iirc)

they don’t exactly advertise it, but if you get a drip coffee “for here,” it’s bottomless

this is how i justified it as well. plus, cafés are typically noisier and less comfortable to sit at for long periods of time. i could do a morning or afternoon at a coffee shop, but certainly not a whole day.

Same.

Conversely, I think I would enjoy my local coffeeshop a lot more if I could get a seat while I eat. Instead, it's clogged by WFH-types exploiting the false economy of the coffeeshop bench.

yeah, that’s fair. there a coffee shop i go to in nova that’s often just a sea of people on laptops - i think i’ve seen people there just chatting maybe once or twice.

There are only two acceptable answers:

1. 75 years of age or older older?

2. You just woke up moments ago from a multi year coma and the nursing staff hasn’t had a chance to speak with you yet.

Pics?

I’ve been a Gather member since before the pandemic and I plan on maintaining my membership there due to the social aspects that I’ve found positive for my mental health. TBH it’s great having “coworkers” that don’t actually work for the same company as I do. Before the Gather times I spent most of my time in coffee shops(Starbucks) where I would venture to different locations, sit on patios, and try to find the best mix of being able to get work done while also enjoying being around other people.

But the true best spot if you want to stay as “free” as possible is the Capital One Cafe. The location in Carytown became my regular spot after it opened. They have a free off-street parking lot, 2 Story building, coffee and tea is half-off if you have a Capital One Card, and you’re able to pop into a little phone booth area for calls if need be(last time I stopped by some of these were walled off due to COVID policies). They have a location in the Short Pump mall that’s available as well. WiFi was always fast and the staff was always welcoming to me.

Hope that helps!

Cell phone hotspot

Libby Mill Library. You can book small meeting rooms and the library itself has great long spaces. Starbucks nearby too.

Hopefully they increase your pay accordingly, since you are expected to provide equipment and space for work.

You should sign up for Panera's Sip Club. $14.99 per month for unlimited drinks. There's always a Panera nearby, and you can choose any drink, not just coffee.

It's a great spot to sit for a couple of hours and work, and I don't feel bad about taking up a spot a locally-owned coffee shop.

Libbie has the worst Internet of any of the libraries by far. I just started going to Twin Hickory

My front porch. Wifi is free but you’ll have to Venmo me $5 to use the bathroom or my printer.

Well, I save $800+ a month not paying for gas, tolls, and lunch, so its not really a big deal to me. I already had my own equipment anyways. I work and game on the same PC.

in the short term, sure, but not in the long term. i frequently make pretty big downloads.

Woof at the thought that there are still people out there that spend $500+/mo. just to get to/from work for their employer. That’s multiple utility bills!

Yeah, but I save $1000+ on my mortgage living where I do. That's why I ysed to commute. So wfh now where I live is amazing. $80/h darn near, $1460 mortgage, 2500sqft house in a culdesac, no hoa.

Not RVA though, Im near Winchester.

I also work from home and own my own computer, but I expect my employer to buy my work equipment. I'm not installing their software on my machine. They pay my internet connection and phone too. (Edit: they pay for my work phone, specifically).

I don't expect them to pay for my workspace because they offer a workspace and I decline to use it. But if they didn't offer one at all I would expect more money.

I don't install any of their software on my pc. Zoom, slack, discord, vscode, visual studio. All stuff I had anyways. Also no vpn. All company stuff is online in the cloud. Office 365, SharePoint online, github, Azure, aws, etc. Shoot even some of our ide environmets are online now via browsers.

And all the dev environments are docker containers.

My salary is 50% higher than my previous salary so im quite happy.

I’ve wondered about renting out space in my house for co-working. I have a huge second bedroom where I currently have my desk but could definitely fit another. Is there a market for that? Like $200/month? Bathroom, kitchen, coffee maker, fast Wi-Fi, dogs (maybe that’s not awesome).

It's 2023... this discourse is tired. Not everyone has nor needs an office.

TJ?

What do you charge?

I’ve always thought upstairs at Whole Foods would be a great coworking spot during the week. No way that’s crowded then right