Third Places: Community Lost or Found?
In "An Army of Davids", Glenn Reynolds writes of a revolution he observes in America's "third places." Reynolds outlines Ray Oldenburg's definition of the "third place." He defines the third place as a physical place in the community that is "free or inexpensive", "accessible", "draw[s] enough people to feel social", "foster[s] easy conversation", and serves food and drink. He argues that while America may have lost many local "third places" with the rise of consumerism in the second half of the twentieth century, consumerism has actually produced new “third places” in recent years. Reynolds points to corporations such as Starbucks, Borders, and Hollister Co that design comfortable lounges into their stores that include amenities such as magazines, plush chairs and couches, and food.
Strange as it the idea sounds, in many ways Reynolds may be right. Maybe the new, corporate third places don’t offer the same sense of community as the corner stores that used to dot America. Maybe people don’t often communicate on the same level in the new third places that they used to in corner stores. But still, these new, corporate third places do offer some sense of place and community, and the creation of new third places is a dramatic improvement over the rapid loss of third places.
More importantly, places are what people make them. I spent the summer commuting on the train. My morning commutes were fairly quiet – I didn’t particularly want to be riding a train at 6:30 AM, and I don’t think any of the other passengers did either. However, my evening ride home was usually fairly friendly. Quickly, I found myself the member of a small group that would always sit and talk together during rides. In that regard, although it didn’t serve food, the train home became a sort of third place – a place where the members of the group and I felt comfortable relaxing and engaging in casual conversation. In truth, potential third places are all around. It’s what we make of them that matters.
posted by Blogging for Truth & Reason @ 10:59 PM
2 Comments:
I wonder what effect the emergence of corporate third places will have on the mom and pop stores still trying to survive, most specifically, Guinan’s Pub (a general store/pub held together by the combined efforts of the community of Garrison, New York—see Gwendolyn Bounds book, Little Chapel on the River). If the trend in America now is to start slowing down and enjoying community then perhaps there will be a renewed interest in hole in the wall type places such as Guinans. However, it seems likely that such an old fashioned place like Guinans, where the regulars still gathers during a black out because it doesn’t need electricity to run, will either have to submit to the power of technology and update their facilities with wireless and flat screens or slowly die out.
It is true that a new sense of community is developing in the modern world as a result of technology and the access we each have with people around the globe at the click of a button but what will happen to the old community?? Will people in small towns be more connected to business partners in India than their own neighbors? It is great that technology allows us to join a greater global community but what price do we have to pay for it and what will happen to the old community that was built about caring for your neighbors and knowing about each other’s personal lives. Modern ‘third places’ may be more convenient, but how personal are they really?
Ceci definitely raises a fair question: are the modern third places driving out our more traditional third places (like Guinan's)?
It's a question of causation and of the direction of the feedback. It's possible the modern third places are driving out the more traditional third places. It's also possible the modern third places are replacing the old third places, which are dying out for other reasons.
I don't mean to fence sit, but it's almost certainly a combination of the two. It's hard to argue that Starbucks isn't driving mom and pop coffee shops out of town.
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