You may have heard of third places before, but in case it’s new to you, they’re essentially community spaces where you can chill & socialize…Like here, I suppose! But typically they refer to in-person community spaces.

Does your area of the world still have a number of these, or are they in the decline? Do you know if your in-person communities are trying to establish or renovate theirs to help people connect or reconnect with one another?

  • norske@lemmynsfw.comEnglish
    5·
    3 years ago

    I’m in a small rural town in the south Puget Sound area of the Pacific Northwest in the good old USofA. I’ve only been here two years, having previously lived in OR, WI, and AZ. Back in OR there was a neat old western saloon building called “The Clubhouse” that housed a whole bunch of neat stuff. There was an arcade and a snack bar. A restaurant and barber shop on the top floor. Lots of big rooms that could be booked for events and stuff. It was free to hang out and socialize in and then food and drink etc cost money.

    Since then, I have not experienced anything similarly and it makes me sad. Everything outside my house is monetized except the public library and who knows how long that will last.

    I wish we could have a “community rec center” or something like that. It’s far too easy to remain disconnected from the communities in which we live and that’s super sad.

  • iByteABit@kbin.social
    1·
    3 years ago

    I think the city life with everyone being in a rush and overwhelmed with work has decreased the amount of third places a lot.

    I still see some local caffés where people chill and the barista also sits with them at times and joins in the conversation, or people talking while they’re getting a haircut etc. but it’s mostly a bit older people, young people seem to keep to themselves more.

    Then again, I’m quite introverted so it’s hard for me to engage in conversation to the point where I might not even notice that some place is a “third place”

  • mike94100@kbin.social
    1·
    3 years ago

    Great video from Not Just Bikes on third places.

    Main issue is how we are/have been building towns/communities. More often than not, you’ll see new builds on land solely for single family homes or only residential apartments instead of mixed used (commercial first floor, residential/office second+ floors) buildings. These all feed onto higher speed roads/highways where you have to drive to shop/eat/work/etc. Many older/pre-suburb towns may still have good third places, we just don’t build towns like that anymore.

    • RiderExMachina@lemmy.mlEnglish
      0·
      3 years ago

      Maybe you already know, but a first place is usually your home and a second place is your work or school.

      So either your unemployed or out of school, or you have a second place without realizing.

  • rhythmisaprancer@kbin.social
    1·
    3 years ago

    I’m really interested in this. I think every area has some unique challenges (recent problematic earthquake here) and opportunities (tight nit community). What I see in many places boils down to money. What few places we do have in my little town are in poor shape, one more shake or blow away from shuttering. In many places in my country, funding can be had for building things. Grants. But nothing for operating. Budgets are too thin, communities are made up of people that cannot help with funding.

    I would rather avoid taking a dump on capitalism, but third places are services, fundamentally, and as long as any of them are viewed as revenue generators, they cannot win. We all lose. Just as a local school does not have to raise its own money directly, we probably need external finding for communal places. Non-profit coffee shops? Maybe. My thoughts. I ate at a diner, nightly, for years. Got job referrals from other regulars. Met a combat barber 😳

    We have to fight the rot from within, I think.

  • RBWells@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    3 years ago

    Here, in terms of free spaces, it’s the city parks. I see churches having service there, dads playing soccer (football) in leagues, I sometimes make the Pokemon go raid hour and there is always a friendly group for that. You can rent the shelters or the building (shelters always, building only when the city isn’t using it) and it’s possible to get ok for parties with alcohol because it’s the city not the county. Mostly nobody does unless it’s a wedding or big corporate thing. There’s a dog park.

    At the small county run park in my neighborhood (2k from home vs. about 6k for the big park) there is a community garden and a big complex of baseball fields and a playground and a very well utilized basketball court.

    So both are technically within walking distance but big park barely - there are, shockingly given the state of transit where I live - 3 different buses that go from near my house to the big park, so even with the ridiculously reduced service it would be possible but at $4.50 for day pass I generally drive or walk, depending on whether I’m looking for a workout or just going to that raid hour.

  • LollerCorleone@kbin.social
    123·
    3 years ago

    My home state is pretty well known for having some thriving third places historically, but they are shrinking now. The city I currently live in lacks such places.