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"Third Places" As Community Builders - Brookings
"Third Places" As Community Builders - Brookings
Urban planners seeking to stabilize neighborhoods are focusing on the critical role that
“third places” can play in strengthening our sense of community. Third places is a term
coined by sociologist Ray Oldenburg
(http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2014/04/13/the-pros-and-cons-of-
gentrification/every-community-deserves-a-third-place) and refers to places where
people spend time between home (‘first’ place) and work (‘second’ place). They are
locations where we exchange ideas, have a good time, and build relationships.
For young Americans, many third places are now virtual – from Facebook and chat
rooms to group texts. But as Oldenburg notes, the most effective ones for building real
community seem to be physical places where people can easily and routinely connect
with each other: churches, parks, recreation centers, hairdressers, gyms and even
fast-food restaurants. A recent newspaper article on McDonald’s
(https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jun/08/mcdonalds-community-centers-
us-physical-social-networks?CMP=share_btn_tw) found that for lower-income
Americans, the twin arches are becoming almost the equivalent of the English “pub,”
which after all is short for “public house”: groups of retirees meeting for coffee and
talk, they might hold regular Bible study meetings there, and people treat the
restaurant as an inexpensive hangout.
The elderly are at particularly high risk of being cut off socially, and that is attracting
the attention of third-place innovators. For instance, LeadingAge Maryland
(http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.leadingagemaryland.org/resource/resmgr/Conference16/F3_CalledBeyondCampus.pd
, a research and advocacy organization, is working with wellness agencies and
architects to design senior housing within “common space” areas, situated near
transportation, nonelderly housing, and other community partners such as universities
and medical facilities. These efforts include cafe-style facilities targeted for seniors,
but that are also attractive to the broader public. This is in stark contrast to the
common pattern of creating self-segregated elderly enclaves, with elaborate services
but little contact with the outside community.
More creative use can also be made of existing laws and regulations to encourage
such efforts. For example, a provision of the Affordable Care Act requires non-profit
hospitals, as a condition of their tax-exempt status, to analyze local health needs in
their communities and help address them using hospital resources. Given what we
know about the importance of social interactions and community networks to address
certain mental health issues, hospitals could identify existing or possible third places
to help expand the availability of meeting places, walking spaces and public Wi-Fi
access. Hospitals are particularly well positioned to work with local businesses,
universities, senior centers, and local government agencies.