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July 25, 2003
Investing in third places
Progressive investors are hard at work to provide next generation communities where third places are the rule, not the exception. Here are some of the prerequisites for attracting third places:
1. Build an attractive environment for creative entrepreneurs, the very people who start third places. That's essentially a CoolTown.
2. Make tenant space as affordable as possible. The more creative, the more risk is involved, so a little financial support is vital.
3. Have hundreds of creative people live in the area who thrive on such places. Works with #1 quite well.
4. Establish a guild of third place proprietors that provides both financial and technical support for starting and maintaining their business.
5. Require a strong percentage of local ownership over national chains in the main street.
6. Build third places outside as well. If successful, these can literally redefine a community.
Posted by Neil | Link to Article
July 24, 2003
Does your local third place have its own CD?
You would if you're the Third Place Coffeehouse in Raleigh, North Carolina. Their "Local Honey" CD is a compilation of local artists that have played at Raleigh's favorite third place, which is also featured in Ray Oldenburg's Celebrating the Third Place.
The popular watering hole is also known for its staff's musical compilations, that is, whoever is working the current shift gets to play their own music. So the place isn't only a venue for live bands, spicy conversation and great food, but a living radio station that one can 'tune into' when they know their favorite 'DJ' is on.
From a local review, "In the morning, businessmen and exercisers--both suited up for their own needs--drop in. It's a quick snack and they're out. At noon, post-graduates, bartenders and waitresses arrive after burning the midnight oil, one way or another. At night, teenagers congregate 'round the outside tables, couples and old friends inside, smelling beans and sharing stories. These aren't waves: They're smears, spread throughout Third Place's seven-days-a-week, 18-hour workday. A punk listening to Black Flag drinks his coffee beside a coat-and-tie architect reading The New York Times, and it's life as usual."
Check out the Third Place Coffeehouse a-day-in-the-life-of video here - now that's capturing the warm, homey, spontaneous, local spirit of a third place!
Posted by Neil | Link to Article
July 23, 2003
The third place and the communal table
What's the equivalent of the piazza in Italy when it comes to third places? Maybe the communal dining table.
In the heart of Old Town, Alexandria, VA, The Best Coffeehouse in the Washington DC Area (as voted by the readers of Washingtonian Magazine), Misha's takes its coffee more than seriously. However, its popularity largely permeates from the sense that you can spend the whole afternoon there free of guilt, especially at their communal table (pictured). One of my friends should know - he fell asleep at that table one afternoon, and we eventually left him behind.
Two other favorite third places (recently featured here) with communal tables are Tryst Cafe and The Dairy Godmother.
Fast Company magazine lists five great ones around the country here.
ps We waited discreetly across the street for my friend to find us after we called him on his cell phone.
Posted by Neil | Link to Article
July 22, 2003
Celebrating the third place
There's no better way to communicate the concept of the third place than to experience one. The author of the book on third places wrote a sequel, Celebrating the third place: Inspiring Stories about the "Great Good Places" at the Heart of Our Communities to help you out.
Here are the following third places listed in the book: Annie's Gift & Garden Shop, Amherst MA; The Third Place Coffeehouse, Raleigh NC; Crossroads, Bellevue WA; Horizon Books, Traverse City MI; Old St. George, Cleveland OH; Square One Restaurant, San Francisco; El Taco Nazo, Pomona CA; Tunnicliff's Tavern, Washington DC (I have to check them out!); Miami Passport Photo Shop, Hialeah FL; Good Neighbor Coffee Shop, Pensacola FL (author's hometown); Joe's Cozy Corner and Galatoire's, New Orleans; Civilization, Cleveland OH; The Great Good Gym, Atlanta GA; The Natural Ground Coffeehouse, The Sharpest Irony ?, The Blue Moon Tavern, Seattle WA; Planck's Cafe ?, Maxwell Street, Chicago IL; and the Coffee Beanery.
If any of you have been to any of these places, or know about any others, please comment below!
Posted by Neil | Link to Article
July 21, 2003
The third place
The first place is your home. The second place is your workplace. The
A cool town is full of great third places. If you aren't motivated to leave home or your workplace, chances are you don't live around too many successful third places.
The UK has long had the concept of the third place down pat. While staying with a friend in the small town of Streatley-Goring in England, I'd usually find him at "The Bull", a small pub across the street (literally). There he was, laughing it up with his good friends or playing a game of darts amid philosophic discussion. This was available to him whenever he felt like walking 50 yards. In fact, during my stay there it was available to me as well, as they made me feel right at home. Now that's what a third place is all about.
Keep up with third place trends right here.
Posted by Neil | Link to Article
