I came across this company in a thread on one of the airplane forums that I follow and thought it looked like a great opportunity for anyone that lives near one of these places.
Its called Techshop. They describe themselves kind of like a Gym for the hobbyists or inventors. I dont have one near me so I didnt look into it too far, but it looks like you buy a monthly membership and that gives you access to use all of the machines they have like mills, lathes, laser cutters, welders, etc... They also have classes to teach you how to operate the equipment.
http://www.techshop.ws/index.html