Reader experience: A third place street

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

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Reader experience: A third place supermarket

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

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Sienna’s version of a portal

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

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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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Every neighborhood needs a third place

There’s home, there’s work, then there’s the third place.  Just like with Cheers, where everybody knows your name.

This is the third place in Burlington, Radio Bean.  What makes it such a great destination?

People get there by biking or walking up to it.  It’s small - only about 600 sf.  The owner funded everything himself and hangs out there like it’s both his second and third place, which it is.  It has a bar.  It has live music.  It has outdoor

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Every town needs third places away from home and the workplace.  These are usually coffeehouses, pubs or a bookstore cafe.  While the best third places in the world are outdoor rooms, like Italy’s piazzas, the best in the U.S. often comes in paseos (streets closed down to cars) and waterfronts.  Madison has both.

Madison’s State Street ‘paseo’ was covered in Tuesday’s blog.  Madison’s University of Wisconsin has a waterfront terrace that has probably hosted

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Bringing the campfire indoors

Many of us know campfires as the warm glow around which we share memorable stories with our friends, and s’mores as the ideal way to cap the night from a dining point of view.

Fortunately for urban dwellers, there are some coffee shops that provide some of that charm with an indoor ‘campfire’ complete with all the fixin’s you need for s’mores.

I joined a couple of friends for such an experience tonight, and I must say, through no coincidence, the conversation

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What’s with all those dollar bills on the walls?

The great thing about independent business owners is that you’re often in for a one-of-a-kind experience.  Take Lulu’s for instance, THE hangout for the late-night crowd in Kailua, Kona on the Big Island in Hawaii, my home island:

You can order anything from a hamburger with ‘kalua pig’ (the kind you find at a luau) to a mahi mahi burrito.  The spectacular view overlooks the ocean.  There’s no shortage of paper towels (notice what’s in the

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Shabby Chic - beyond the home

I’m not one for trends, but Rachel Ashwell’s Shabby Chic methodology of affordable individuality has long been applied to some of the most successful main streets - anywhere, as well as the best third places.

Shabby chic is about combining the old and new for timeless comfort, which explains why it’s no longer ‘the hot trend’ in L.A. Then again, it’s these very principles that make Joseph’s Cafe (image) a premiere ‘who’s who’ hot spot in L.A.

While the concept

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Third places are easy to remember and return to, but very difficult to find.  So, when my good friend and devout New Urbanist, John Massengale began collecting a list of such places (specifically, coffee/tea hangouts), it was my duty to let you all know!

Keep up with his ongoing list here.

Just so you know, John’s a single boomer and renowned urban designer/author living in Manhattan, and has a good eye for the “this place is so cool I’m coming back… with

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It’s the people AND the place, stupid!

Just in case anyone might be offended, that’s a take off of Clinton’s “It’s the economy, stupid!“ campaign as a reminder to the staff of what was important.

Every ‘place’ has its underlying ‘essence’ or getalt that makes it cool - and it takes a knowing eye I suppose, to capture what that is, whether it’s the outside or inside, with people or not with people.  The coolest places are often best captured from the inside with people, not the outside

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The Spanish Square in Rome

This is one of my favorite third places in Rome, the Piazza Di Spagna, or the Spanish Square.  The area is most commonly known as the Spanish Steps (the actual steps are to the right, off picture), as highlighted in yesterday’s entry.

Notice the amount of street life even at 40 degrees F.  The Piazza Di Spagna’s grand stairs, the neighborhood-sized piazza shown here, and another more intimate one facing it provide a vibrant stage for city life.  Then there’s this

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That’s what a neighborhood or town center should be - a center for people, not cars or monuments or overdone design and landscape architecture.  The best towns have dozens and dozens of them.

That usually means architects need to leave the talent to the people who will inhabit these spaces, as inherently counter-intuitive as it is for them.  In other words, imagine how impossible it would be to perform on a stage that was already completely filled with someone else’s

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I can see why hundreds of neighboring residents stream into historic Venice through the one transit-oriented end of town that connects hordes of buses and cars…

You can literally stand in the streets of Venice carrying a beer or rum & coke, chatting it up with friends when it gets either too loud, crowded or hot inside - which is exactly what a group of us did one Saturday night (image above).

The bars oriented to the younger set are clustered, so there’s no

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CoolTown piazza 3: The pub

Essential #3 - The things a CoolTown piazza can’t be without:

The pub - Where everybody knows your name.  The pub is a standard in England, and the typical ones there are small, very homey, lots of wood floors, walls and furniture, and a line of regulars parked on the bar stools.  For some, that bar stool is the equivalent of the couch in the living room, while the buzz of conversation in the air replaces your television set.  Well in fact, many pubs do have a

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CoolTown piazza 2: The cafe

Seinfeld fans can relate to this one…

Essential #2 - The things a CoolTown piazza can’t be without:

The late night cafe:  The place where you can get $5 sandwiches/burritos or $4 bacon*/eggs/toast at 3 in the morning, without OD’ing** on grease, fat and sugar.

The key is to establish places that people can theoretically frequent every single day without going bankrupt or skyrocketing their risk for diabetes.  Not everyone has to drink coffee or tea, but

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This week I’ll take a look at what the ideal shops, restaurants, entertainment and services would be on a CoolTown main street, or even better, a piazza.  Thus, imagine the coolest of main streets as a piazza.

Essential #1 - These are the things a CoolTown piazza can’t be without:

The hang-out coffeehouse.  The one with the local owners, local art on the walls, local live bands stopping by (see the pattern?) and bulletin board stuffed with ads from

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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.

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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

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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

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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

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The first place is your home.  The second place is your workplace.  The

third place is where you hang out in between.  Ray Oldenburg wrote the book on it.

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

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Investing in cool places to eat

So what kind of restaurants will the ultimate CoolTown have?  That’s like asking what kind of movies will be produced if your studio worked with only the most creative independent directors, writers and actors - one can only imagine.

The best ideas will come from asking the most creative people, then finding the entrepreneurs to run it.  One clear factor is that the creative inhabitants of CoolTowns need affordable places to eat - it’s about fun dining more

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Where ‘Friends’ meet for coffee

Forget Central Perk, the sofa-laden coffee house where the characters of the TV show Friends meet up, Tryst has it going.

Let me count the ways to make a great neighborhood hangout:  Provide lots of big comfortable chairs and couches for those who want relaxed conversation;  a communal table for those who want to strike up spontaneous dialogue or collaborate on work projects; lots of small tables near the front for more intimate conversation and dining; or

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