The previous entry profiled the Architect magazine story, The Next Coffeehouse, and there’s one that truly stood out to me as something that a creative would say, “You know, I’d actually really want to work there.“

Designed by STUDIOS Architecture, their Modular Community Kitchen concept is the spatial inverse of the piazza, with a 60’ communal table serving as the ‘town square’. Greg Keffer, principal, provided some insight in this CoolTown interview:

Do you think the market is ready for

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What will the next generation third place look like? Architect Magazine asked five architectural firms to provide their unique answers which are presented in the article, The Next Starbucks. Clockwise from top left, there’s a definite coffee bar theme:

BARbucks by designLAB, Boston - Coffee served bartender style like at a bar for people that want a more social solo experience. This is how coffee is served in Italian espresso bars. designLAB also presents AUTObucks, the equivalent of the self

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First we profiled the conference bike, then the pub bike, followed by the delivery bike, so a natural progression would be a barista bike... the Bikecaffe.

Founded by a couple of coffee connoiseurs, Steve and Mike, they took it upon themselves to provide what they felt was missing in the marketplace - a mobile, outdoors-oriented third place.

“We saw a gap in the market for alfresco (outdoor) coffee to cater to the backlash against global coffee chains. People don’t like queing inside a shop

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You may have heard about the cafe for bike commuters, but what about a hangout for casual riders?  That’s what two native local entrepreneurs had in mind when they opened the Little Red Bike Cafe in Portland, OR last year.

What makes it a bicyclist’s third place?

- The bike-thru - Little Red Bike Cafe’s version of the drive-thru (pictured behind the kids). Plus a 50 cent discount on your coffee if you bike.
- Lots of bike parking.
- A very well written and illustrated blog all about the

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I first profiled Tryst back in 2003 as a popular coffeehouse third place in Adams Morgan, Washington DC. But five years later, ten years after it first opened, it’s not only become a neighborhood institution, but it really should be seen as a contemporary model for job creation.

Here’s the big picture:

1. A majority of big businesses come from small businesses, and small businesses are started by entrepreneurs… from their homes.
2. Many (not all) entrepreneurs who tried working exclusively

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My favorite category on this website is Reader Experiences. What better way to profile inspiring places than to have readers relive such moments. Today’s such person is Christian MacAuley, CEO of FabApps. Her experience:

“Philz Coffee in San Francisco makes your coffee one cup at a time. It feels special and tastes awesome. After waiting in line to be served, a staff member makes your coffee with you one-on-one, asking for your exact preferences so you’re getting very individualized attention

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We know third places are that familiar social gathering place away from home and work, and we’re thankfully witnessing a renaissance of them in neighborhoods everywhere. So, it was inevitable that as more creatives turn to more natural means of transportation we would start to see third places for biking commuters, aka urban bike stations (thank you Springwise).

You’re in luck if you live in the following cities with urban bike stations, all of which offer secure covered bike parking, on-site

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Say you’re at a bar with friends, and you want to sample a few beers, or you just want a half pint to cap off the evening, or you’re in the mood for a hefeweizen right now. There’s also something festive and congenial about refilling everyone’s mugs from a pitcher on the table.

It was inevitable, and it has arrived - self-serve tables with their own draft taps (and metered displays), which you’ll for the time being have to travel to Pilsen, Czechoslovakia’s new

Pilsner Unique Bar (pictured)

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Third places, events and scenes oh my…

If you’re looking to establish a beta community to crowdsource a natural cultural district (kudos to those of you who don’t have to click on the words to know what’s being talked about here), it starts with third places, events and scenes.

Third places. Most of you know what third places are - where you feel comfortable hanging out when you’re not at home or at work. A community starts with a third place so people can meet face to face, whether it’s a

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If you’re visiting Munich and drink beer, you probably already know about the Hofbrauhaus (brew court house) downtown.

Wilhelm V., Duke of Bavaria, was dissatisfied with the beer brewed in Munich, so in 1589 he established his own brewery, the Hofbrauhaus (brew court house) to serve only his royal court (talk about an elitist brewery). It wasn’t until 1828 that it became open to the public.

The main attraction of the Hofbrauhaus is multifold, and a great lesson for microbreweries.  Of course

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A few years ago 32-year old Melanie DiPasquale felt there was something missing in her small town of Brunswick, Maryland, pop. 5000, something very familiar to the typical creative… a third place where people in the community could get together spontaneously.

At that same time she spotted a for sale sign on a church built in 1910 that had been abandoned for ten years. Obviously, the church carried with it a lot of stories for many of the locals, so it seemed natural to restore it into a

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A lot of businesses like to call themselves triple bottom line (economic, environmental and social accounting), but one third place that’s 3BL without question is the White Dog Cafe in downtown Philadelphia.

The evidence starts with its extraordinary owner, Judy Wicks, who not only founded White Dog, but she is also the co-founder of the national Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) and founder of the local Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia (SBN). You can

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There’s a lot of talk that Budapest is the ‘next Prague’, so while I have yet to frequent this up and coming Hungarian city on the Danube, I thought I’d try and identify the favorite third place for locals...

It could very well be a hang-out called Szoda (Soda).

Some of the words associated with this cafe/bar:  funky, bohemian, artsy, retro, shabby chic, young, good beer/coffee, good prices, danceable music, very friendly, down to earth, relaxed, free soda... note the Japanese Manga cartoons

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“It’s not home, it’s not work. It’s that other place. It’s your space.”�

That’s the theme at Retreat in DUMBO, Brooklyn NY, and it’s not an exaggeration…

5000 square feet. Free wifi lounge. Coffee bar (Coffee Box). Art gallery. Restaurant and Bar (reBar). Community tasting market (mid ‘07). Those are distinct places with their own unique names, not one venue calling itself an art gallery coffehouse restaurant because it serves coffee and has art on the walls. Not only that, reBar just won

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For people with hefty wallets and type AAA personalities, meeting people at bars is no problem.  However, for most of the population, it’s neither comfortable nor sustainable.

Enter the tachinomiya, aka standing bars, which are all the rage in Tokyo, Japan.  These are very intimate, rather densely occupied venues that serve drinks and appetizers, but with no chairs.  As the New York Times states, “Their popularity is fueled by low prices and the opportunities they offer many young, shy

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Followers of this website know that we focus on neighborhoods and districts that attract the creative class, but if there ever was an example of a single venue that does so, it’s C3 (the Creative Change Center) and there’s really nothing like it anywhere.

Surprise, it’s not in Manhattan or Austin, but in Richmond, VA, which should be encouraging to cities that aren’t Manhattan or Austin.  Richmond, however, is a growing mecca of creativity itself.

What is C3?  As they say, it’s a “community

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Manboo in Japan.  Maybe.  Think of it as a social hangout/cafe/living room/gaming room/entertainment center/salon/computer school/hostel.  Let’s break it down…

At Manboo, for $4/hour you can:

- Relax in big comfy chairs or sofas in cubicled living rooms and surf the internet, watch one of hundreds of DVDs, read comics, or play one of hundreds of PS2/Xbox games.

- Stay overnight for $11/hour.  There are lots of couches to sleep on, plus showers.

- Enjoy an unlimited amount of tea, coffee or

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Hundreds of people, relaxing, conversing, laughing, with a cold beer, chicken wings and potato dumplings, under a breezy canopy of mature trees under a black sky (sorry, no starry skies in New York City.)  That was my evening (minus the wings and dumplings) in New York City’s only outdoor beer garden, the aptly name Bohemian Hall.

By day it’s welcome for kids and parents with a full Czech restaurant menu, and by night it’s abuzz with gen xers and yers, accompanied by live bands on some

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It’s tough to have a sense of community without third places, as this inspiring article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette attests to, ‘Third places’ are No. 1 in the hearts of patrons.

Here are links to the mentioned third places, followed by what matters most - the opinions of its patrons.

Monterey Pub (top image)
Affogato (middle image)
Coffee Tree (lower image)
La Prima

Article quotes from the patrons:
“It fills a social void.“
“I get all my information here.“
“After 15 days on the road, no

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Happy St. Patrick’s Day.

In Ireland, three quarters of all alcohol is consumed in a pub.  That’s all alcohol, including any purchased at the grocery store.  No wonder the Irish seem to be singing, dancing and laughing so much - it’s not so much the alcohol (the oft-used stereotype) as it is being a very social culture.

According to the paper, A Genuine ‘Third Place’? Towards an understanding of the pub in contemporary Irish society, here are some reasons why the pub is the center of

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Youngbin Park at Cornell University provides this response to Monday’s blog on our ongoing reader request for what they think is cool - Ithaca Commons, a downtown pedestrian mall that is experiencing a recent revival of vitality after years of neglect:

“It’s similar to a square, but full of independently-owned stores, restauarants, and bars.  During the summer time, the Commons host concerts on a weekly basis.  The layout of the Common’s is very
nice with plenty of benches, trees, chess

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Thanks to Annie Lux at UNC in response to yesterday’s blog on our ongoing reader request for cool places, here’s a look at how to turn a supermarket into a third place:

“I did a “what’s cool in Carrboro, NC” project for an environmental design/behavior class. The winner was a food co-op/take-out restaurant called Weaver Street Market and is one of the most amazing community gathering places I’ve seen. It’s got a huge lawn, fountain, plenty of outdoor seating and free town-provided wireless

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It’s tradition in Spain and Portugal to have family dinners outdoors, and to have it as a social event as well, which is why you’ll find so many paseos (pedestrian-only streets).  Think of it as a street by day and a grand outdoor dining room by night.

Unfortunately we don’t have too many of these kinds of places in this country, and rarer so in neighborhoods that would benefit from such community-building events.  That makes it even harder for people to socialize and meet new people as it

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Cafes and coffeehouses need outdoor seating

We all know how nice it is to sit on our front porch or backyard when the weather’s nice.  We were meant to breathe fresh air and hear the sounds of everyday life rather than the sounds of the TV set or pot and pans banging in the background (like in small restaurants).  It’s easy on the mind and healthy for the soul.

Since cafes and coffeehouses are designed for lingering, the quintessential third place, providing outdoor seating is a must.  In

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Darwin’s - A one-stop third place

Just outside Harvard Square, Cambridge, you may happen upon a crowd of people on the sidewalk outside a handsome storefront.  Some are just standing there, others on one of the benches, and still others sitting on the sidewalk.

This is Darwin’s, which has something for many.  First of all, it’s located away from the gentrified retail district of Harvard Square, so it’s more $ reasonable.  It’s most popular offering is as a deli, where you can choose from

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