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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The most important task in building cooltowns is finding the passionate, visionary people that make it come alive… and Liz of The Dairy Godmother is one such person.

How did Liz and her Alexandria, VA Business of the Year become a community institution in just a year?  She instinctively followed the principles of the experience economy, focusing on her customers as unique individuals and her frozen custard shop as one of a kind: She greets her customers by first name, recognizes their

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