#thirdplaces

In The Great Good Place, the seven characteristics of third places are:

Open and inviting. You don't need an invitation or appointment, and you can come and go as you please.

Comfortable and informal. You feel that you belong there.

Convenient. It's close enough to visit often, ideally right in your own neighborhood.

Unpretentious. Everyone is on the same level, there's nothing fancy or fragile, and it's not expensive.

There are regulars. And often there's a host who greets people as they arrive.

Conversation is the main activity. Discussion, debate, and gossip are part of the mix.

Remember when working from home felt like a dream come true?

No commute, no office dress code — just you, your laptop, and your couch.

But fast forward to 2025, and so many of us crave something more than just “home” or “office.”

Enter the return of the third place: those cozy, welcoming spots that aren’t home, and aren’t work — but somewhere in between.

Think cafes, co-working hubs, libraries, community gardens — anywhere you can feel part of something, without pressure.

What’s a Third Place, Anyway?

The term “third place” was coined by sociologist Ray Oldenburg.

Your “first place” is home.

Your “second place” is work or school.

Your “third place” is where community happens: coffee shops, bookshops, shared workspaces, or even parks.

They’re where you run into neighbors, have casual chats, or just vibe around other humans.

Why They’re Back

The pandemic showed us the magic of remote work — but also its loneliness.

Working alone day after day? Not so inspiring.

Now, more freelancers and remote workers are craving low-pressure spaces to work, think, and connect.

Cafes are upgrading their WiFi, co-working studios are popping up everywhere, and hybrid memberships make it affordable to work from anywhere.

Some cities even have “third place memberships” that let you hop between local cafes with perks like unlimited coffee and community events!

My Experience

I used to think working from a cafe was just a treat. Now, it’s my sanity saver.

Two days a week, I pack my laptop, grab my favorite pastry, and set up at a local coffee shop.

Surrounded by other creatives typing away, I feel motivated, inspired — and oddly less distracted than I do at home.

Plus, I’ve made new friends and connections just by being a “regular.”

How You Can Try It

Thinking about finding your own third place? Here’s what works for me:

• Look for spots with reliable WiFi, comfy seating, and good vibes.

• Support local: indie cafes often feel warmer than chains.

• Be mindful — buy coffee or snacks to respect the space.

• Join a co-working studio for professional networking.

• Take breaks to actually chat with people!

Do You Have a Third Place?

Where do you feel most inspired outside home and work?

In the text "Brands and Urban Life: Specialty Coffee, Consumers, and the Co-Creation of Urban Café Sociality", Sonia Bookman describes the coffee shops as third places, where people can find "an informal gathering place between work and home where people meet and engage in a range of social interactions, from an exchange of glances to conversation." p 5 

Bookman offers a series of elements that make of coffee shops as places where people can find a comfort enjoyable zone, including interior design and décor, implicating local community, baristas, hospitality, urban café sociality, routine and familiarity.

I would like to expand these elements by arguing that changes in work habitus and new forms of employment have a considerable impact on the success of coffee shops as third places. For example, there are many workers that are employed, meaning that they can work from wherever. (designers, consultants or writers) A National Survey of the American Workforce exposed that 34% of the American Workforce is self-employed, and that number is expected to go up. 

These kind of changes towards the labor force has had an impact on the success of coffee shops, since they offer a kind of "social office", with chairs, tables, wi-fi and, of course, an unlimited amount of caffeine to work. 

When ever you move into a new neighborhood, normally you want to assimilate yourself within the area and its people. And before reading this article, I didn't think about this idea, that post WWII suburban landscape was anti-community. 

Most residential areas built since World War II have been designed to protect people from community rather than connect them to it. Virtually all means of meeting and getting to know one’s neighbors have been eliminated. An electronically-operated garage door out front and a privacy fence out back afford near-total protection from those who, in former days, would have been neighbors.

On my quest to get to know my new neighborhood of Briarwood, Queens (I've lived here for over a year now) I am trying to visit all the local businesses here, particularly food wise. And when I see a neighborhood along my walk to the train station, I "try" to nod, smile, or acknowledge them in some way. Some times they are looking down or look down, and we both pretend to not see each other, or just make sure we made enough room for the other to not brush up against each other. I'm trying to break this latter habit.

I agree with Oldenburg, when he says it is up to us, the people to create these ad hoc community spaces as meeting grounds for the locals versus the "gray government" (ie. community centers). And it can start as small as saying hello to a neighborhood until it forms a good habit and maybe even a friendship. 

Third places give the gift of friendship. 

Not the singular, lifelong “best” friendship necessarily, but the tonic of friends met in numbers. The great boon to friendship is that which is often called “neutral ground” and third places represent the best of it. On neutral ground people avoid the obligations of both guest and host and simply enjoy the company. They come and go without making arrangements or excuses; they may leave the very moment it suits them to do so. It is a very easy form of human association. When friends meet in numbers, as opposed to “one-on-one,” there is a festive spirit and laughter is frequent. There is an atmosphere of acceptance and belonging that no single friend, no matter how close, can provide.

The corner grocery, a "third place", is alive and thriving, my local market is this tiny cramped mom and pop store that sells a small selection of fresh produce and dairy products, even carrying some specialty Asian (canned goods) and Spanish (cheese and perishables) products. This is where I bump into a gamut of age groups and races. I like to support them by giving them my cash versus the chain Keyfood by me and is also place I can go for a quick walk outside if I haven't left my house at all that day and to pick up a half gallon of milk.

There is a lack in community nowadays. Therefore "political literacy is low in this country" and "only in America" is there this migration of the elderly to the "sun cities" away from their hometown, where they grew up and worked their whole adult life. With a lost of connection between the young and the old. I know I grew up looking up to my teachers and those that were older than me, so I know how imperative that is in maturing and comfort. 

I think the lost of "life on the street," or places that spill over to the outside is because store owners or the government to prevent people from loitering and from homeless people setting up shop. Purposely designing structures, seats, to be uncomfortable or bolted into the ground is already mistrusting the near-future visitor(s). A mindset that is underlying-ly negative. 

However I do believe since this article (Winter 2006-7), we are trying to bridge the vanishing of "third places" with more places and areas to lounge. I know it is also commercially viable for people to be seen at a place, to make the storefront seem busy and enticing for newcomers. Thus the birth of free WIFI, an offering that is on trend. Coworking and studio mate spaces is evidence that we want to be near each other, feel a sense of community again. Places like the High Line pops into my head. I think people congregate around food and so markets like Smorgasburg and Hester Street Fair are super popular weekend outings for the family and the "hip" crowds.

But there is still a disparity between "third places" that bring together the young and the elderly, or just kids and adults. Even in community spaces like the local libraries, areas are designed to separate the age groups with the notion that they do not want to hear the other, or seen near each other. I'm not sure how to solve for this. The stereotype of cranky old people and loud obnoxious young people and screaming kids are hard to fight.

Overall, I come away feeling positive. I think we all want to belong and in this day and age of technology and social media, I see people using the power of the internet to connect away from the screen.

[joie de vivre]