I tried my local library. It was impossible. The building so over-heated, that even with snow on the ground and me wearing a thin cotton shirt, I thought I was going to pass out. Then there were the "students" who spent their time laughing loudly and chatting (even more loudly) on their mobile phones. When I complained to the staff about this, they said it was policy to allow it (I guess they are desperate to have bums on seats, and it is the students' problem if they can't study because their peers are making so much noise.)

I then tried a public museum with a study centre, only to be told after a few weeks that I couldn't plug my laptop into their mains supply! (I believe that really they just wanted to get rid of me, since the rest of the study centre was always empty, and it was clear that I was programming not studying their collection.)

Finally, the best option of all is a museum that has a private members' room. I'm often the only person there. Not only that, but there is a cafe in the members room', and toilets just outside. And all for about $100 a year. I don't think the Members Room has wifi, but that's not a problem for me. I avoid microsoft whenever possible, but my Windows Mobile phone allows me to share its internet connection (and the sharing works with os x, windows, and linux).

When I want some relief from work, I go for a stroll round the museum. I love libraries, but I find the visual stimulus of thousands of different artifacts a fine contrast after staring at words on a screen for a couple of hours.