I am so excited that so many people are interested! I plotted everyone's approximate locations on a google map so we could see where everyone is coming from. You can check it out here:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=804+Neff+Rd,+Grosse+Pointe,+Wayne,+Michigan+48230&msa=0&msid=101389843180453006155.00047e62df4b27cb786bb&ll=42.506528,-83.243408&spn=0.773466,1.766052&z=9 (sorry about the ugly link). I think the church in Farmington could be a great location but I suppose it brings up the issue of that groups original intended purpose.
The other thing I came up with is that a lot of the libraries in the area have public meeting space that is available for free or a nominal fee. I would be happy to look into this further and be in charge of setting it up if it would work well for others. The library in Ann Arbor specifies that the room can only be used 4 times per year by any specific group and I would guess that others have similar policies. If that is the case, or even if it seems like a good plan, we can pick 2-3 locations and rotate each month.
It sounds like it would be best to try to find one weekend day and try to do once a month at least to start. Perhaps we could aim to get it up and running by the mid-end of February. Is Saturday or Sunday best for everyone? I am open to either. If we are going with a library I know a few are closed on Sundays and most have very short hours (mine is open 1-5 on Sundays.)