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The Great Good Place: Cafes, Coffee Shops, Bookstores, Bars, Hair Salons, and Other Hangouts at the Heart of a Community

MOST THIRD places enjoy a location where pedestrian traffic is heavy and many regulars live but minutes away

Ray Oldenburg • Celebrating the Third Place: Inspiring Stories About the Great Good Places at the Heart of Our Communities

The term, which was coined by the sociologist Ray Oldenburg in the 1980s, essentially refers to a physical location other than work or home where there’s little to no financial barrier to entry and where conversation is the primary activity. The historical examples that Oldenburg cites in his book The Great Good Place include French cafés, German... See more

Allie Conti • We Really Should Hang Out More Often

Ray Oldenburg,

Marie K. Shanahan • Journalism, Online Comments, and the Future of Public Discourse

Ray Oldenberg introduced the idea of the third place in his 1989 book, "The Great Good Place". He writes that, "Third places thrive best in locales where community life is casual, where walking takes people to more destinations than cars, and where there's an interesting diversity of people in the neighborhood." He says, "In these habitats,

the

Mina Le • Third Places, Stanley Cup Mania, and the Epidemic of Loneliness

But a place outside of home and work, Oldenburg argued, is necessary for public wellbeing. “What suburbia cries for are the means for people to gather easily, inexpensively, regularly, and pleasurably,” said Oldenburg. “A ‘place on the corner,’ real life alternatives to television, easy escapes from the cabin fever of marriage and family life that... See more

Emily Torres Culture • What Is A Third Place? (And Here’s Why You Should Have One)

Ray Oldenburg’s The Great Good Place.

Steven Johnson • Where Good Ideas Come From

The best third places are locally owned, independent, small-scale, steady-state business,

Ray Oldenburg • Celebrating the Third Place: Inspiring Stories About the Great Good Places at the Heart of Our Communities

Oldenburg contends the most important “first place” in a community is the home. The places where we work are our “second place” since work is required and serious and “reduces the individual to a single productive role.” Our “third place” is composed of those informal, neutral, public social spaces we visit voluntarily—where “conversation is the