I grew up in a small town of about 35,000. In 1970 there were so many actual pool rooms that I can't remember them all. My guess would be somewhere between 10 and 20. Now there are none. I moved away from my home town when I retired because of crime and drugs, but that is another story. Where I live now there is no pool room. I thought about opening a small one when I retired two years ago and talked to a real estate person, because there is a lot of nice property here that seems to be empty. The bottom line is investors are buying up properties here and using them for tax write offs, which is good for them, but bad for someone wanting to start a small business. Also the image for pool here is really bad. You say pool here, and they think drugs and degenerates. Pool is literally a 4 letter word where I live now, the equal of the "F" word, and I'm not kidding. I was kind of shocked by this, but always let people know that I don't play in bars, and that I play in leagues and tournaments, which is true, and that seems to make it ok. I travel over 60 miles one way, sometimes several times a week, just to play pool, not in a bar. I am in my sixties now, and the driving is starting to take a toll on me. I am starting to look at my options again. I don't have room in my house for a table and haven't figured out what to do yet.