“Great civilizations, like great cities, share a common feature. Evolving within them and crucial to their growth and refinement are distinctive informal public gathering places. These become as much a part of the urban landscape as of the citizen’s daily life,” Ray Oldenburg wrote in “The Great Good Place: Cafés, coffee shops, bookstores, bars, hair salons, and other hangouts at the heart of a community.”
The cafes, coffee shops, bookstores and similar places mentioned in “The Great Good Place” are now commonly referred to as third spaces. Think of your house as a first space, your work as a second space and a third space as any pleasant public place you can hang out at for a long period of time for little to no cost.
Third spaces are dwindling in the United States because they are being replaced with something else or being closed down altogether. According to Bruno V. Manno in the Washington Monthly, 21% of Americans report living with no access to third spaces and no way to connect with their neighbors.
This issue stands out for the youth of America. Adults can go to one of the most common third spaces, a bar, and spend a good amount of time there. For kids and teens, that isn’t the case. We as a society have created an environment where there are no places for kids and teens to freely socialize, so in turn, they turn to online spaces to find community.
It wasn’t always this way. It seems third spaces were celebrated and lived in for ages. Karen Robinson, 64, grew up in Simi Valley, California. She reminisced about the times she spent in one of her favorite third spaces as a teen.
“There was a little restaurant called Ribbies… He (the owner) was super cool with letting the high school kids hang out there… we could just hang out there as long as we wanted,” Robinson said.
But now, times have changed. Aubrey Jane, a 22-year-old student at the University of Oregon, talked about the lack of third spaces while growing up.
“I have two brothers, one six years older and one eight years older. They would go to this bowling alley or this dancing club for teenagers… I feel like our generation doesn’t have that,” Jane said.
One reason third spaces have gone out of style is cost. Going out to the roller rink, bowling alley or arcade used to cost $10 at the most, adjusted with inflation. Now, going to any of these places and maybe buying a drink as well costs at least $30 wherever you go, making it more of an event rather than a hangout spot. Most people just don’t have the money to go out every weekend these days.
However, we can bring more third spaces back. Jane Jacobs wrote in her 1961 book “The Death and Life of Great American Cities,” “A well-used city street is apt to be a safe street.”
This concept, while talking about the importance of people present to make city streets feel safe, applies to third spaces as well. With enough people around, people feel safe. We as a community can do something to bring life back into these common areas by participating in them.
As simple as it sounds, third spaces bring a town together. Seeing a community enjoy a shared space makes people care about each other, and in caring about the community, they care about the town.
Robert • Apr 24, 2026 at 1:07 pm
So sick bruh