Subscribe to this blog 
Does your community need a coffee shop and other Third Places?
January 14th, 2009 by Mike Knutson
During an economic development planning meeting in 2004, several high school students claimed our community (Howard, SD) needed a coffee shop. That statement confounded most of the adults in attendance. “What do you mean? We’ve already got two,” a community leader retorted, referring to the town’s two small cafés.
Beyond the obvious differences between a coffee shop and a small town café, most of the adults in the room missed the point the students were making: Younger people enjoyed going to larger communities to hang out in coffee shops. If we wanted our community to be a place for their generation, we needed a coffee shop.
To my disappointment, the coffee shop idea didn’t make the final cut on our prioritized list of projects, deferring instead to more traditional “job creation” strategies. At the time, I thought a coffee shop would serve as an excellent “amenity”, making our community more attractive to both Gen Y and newcomers. I’ve since learned that there’s a lot more going on in coffee houses than coffee and conversation. And I have sociologist Ray Oldenburg to thank for this discovery.
Coffee Houses are “Third Places”
It has been two decades since Oldenburg invented the name “third places” in his influential book The Great Good Place to describe informal gathering places like cafés, pubs, bookstores, community centers and main streets.
To Oldenburg, third places carry out important community building functions that cannot be fulfilled by “first places” (our homes) and “second places” (our places of work). They become the places where people develop personal relationships and a sense of community. Without them, families are left to sit at home and watch television by themselves.
Oldenburg goes into great depth explaining the community building functions carried out by third places. We’ll talk about them more in later posts, but for now I’d like to focus on helping readers recognize third places in their own communities– not all cafés, pubs, bookstores and community centers meet the qualifications of third places.
Characteristics of Third Places
Third places come in many forms, but Oldenburg identifies eight characteristics that third places share:
- Neutral ground: People are free to come and go as they chose at third places: no time requirements, no obligations, no invitations needed. Much of our lives in first places (home) and second places (work) are structured and mandated. Not in third places.
- Is a Leveler: Since everyone is welcome and there are no requirements for membership, people from all walks of life gather in third places. In this environment, people have an opportunity to get to know each other outside the confines of their work; which in turn helps them value each other as individuals - regardless of their social or economic status.
- Conversation is the Main Activity: Oldenburg describes this perfectly when he writes; “Nothing more clearly indicates a third place than that the talk there is good; that it is lively, scintillating, colorful, and engaging” (The Great Good Place - p. 25) Games like chess, darts, and dominos are often present as well because they contribute to the playful conversations Oldenburg describes. And loud music, for obvious reasons, is never present.
- Assessable and accommodating: Third places tend to be conveniently located, often within walking distance of one’s home. They are also open long hours enabling people to come and go as they please. After all, if third places are difficult to get to, people won’t go there as often and they won’t find their regular friends there either.
- The Regulars: When one walks into a third place, he or she easily recognizes that many patrons are regulars at the establishment. These regulars are often the main attraction and give the place its characteristic mood. But unlike other places, newcomers are welcomed into the group. All that is required is regular attendance.
- A Low Profile: “As a physical structure, the third place is typically plain,” writes Oldenburg (p. 36). Hominess takes precedence over pretense.
- The Mood is Playful: With food, drink, games, and conversation present, it’s not surprising that the mood of third places is light and playful. This mood encourages people to stay longer and to come back repeatedly.
- A Home away from Home: At their core, third places are spaces where people feel at home. They feel like they belong there, and they have a sense of ownership in the place. Sometimes, Oldenburg warns, third places feel more like home than home.
Howard’s new Third Place
Last summer (2008), three entrepreneurial ladies opened a coffee shop in Howard called Higher Grounds. I’ve been watching it ever since and have concluded that it is developing into an outstanding third place. It really seems to be filling the need people have to experience a sense of community, which may explain why it’s a success.
So, what about your rural community? Do you have any good examples that you can share? I’d really like to create a list of unique third places. Hopefully, these examples can serve as an inspiration to residents in rural communities that currently lack strong third places.
Other resources on coffee shops and third places
- “A new third place enhances a walkable space“ – Greater Greater Washington
- “The Downtown Coffee House Business“ - Downtown Economics (U. of Wisconsin Extension)
- COFFEE SHOP - Research Project for Dr. Gaffney’s Urban Social Geography at UNC
Note: Photo courtesy of Elisa Sand of the Madison Daily Leader
Tags: amenities, coffee shop, Howard SD, Ray Oldenburg, sense of place, social capital, third places
Posted in Community Development, Gen Y, Quality of Life, Rural | Comments (
7 )
January 15th, 2009 at 7:41 am
Mitchell has a couple of great places - Cafe Teresa and Cornerstone Coffee. Chamberlain has an excellent coffeehouse called the Derby Coffeehouse.
The interesting observation is that these places seem to attract people from many generations; from high school students to senior citizens. I was in the Derby last week and I had a hard time concentrating on my work because I was fascinated by the interction among the “regulars.” There were two tables of high school students in the place at about 4pm. One table (who appeared to be middle school aged) began singing some type of “cheer” and then the other table (senior high students) chimed in as well.
As I was wrapping up my work to head back to Yankton, a group of senior ladies were gathering for some sort of meeting. When the ladies came in, they exchanged acknowledgements with the students (talk about generational connections!!).
One important attribute to all of these places that Oldenburg hadn’t written about yet (the first edition of “Great Good Place” came out in 1988, the second edition came out in 1999), is the presence of a wi-fi connection. This allows those of us that aren’t “regulars” to come into the coffeehouse, order a cup of high octane fuel, and park for a while and connect with our offices, homes, whatever.
Great Post, Mike! Rural South Dakota DEFINITELY needs to invest in Third Places!
January 15th, 2009 at 11:29 am
Eric,
You correctly identify the intergenerational aspects of third places. Oldenburg writes extensively on the value communities and individuals receive when the young and old get to know each other in third places.
Since I have family members in Mitchell, SD, I’ve experienced the Cornerstone Coffee enterprise first hand on numerous Saturday mornings. On at least two occasions, I’ve noticed a group of ladies who appear to gather there weekly. As I’ve noted elsewhere, I loathe guessing the ages of ladies, but I think it’s safe to say there is an age span of close to thirty years in the group. Where else do people of varying ages gather?
January 18th, 2009 at 10:18 pm
I won’t embarrass the town by mentioning its name, but I once visted a community whose American Legion baseball team hadn’t had a winning season in many years. Still, residents maintained a beautiful ballpark where the generations mixed on summer nights. Good food concessions and conversation were the draw. Hardly anyone watched the lopsided baseball defeats. There’s something to be said about poor athletics; had the team started winning, the ballpark might have become just another athletic venue. The oddest third place I ever saw was backstage at Spearfish’s former Black Hills Passion Play. The production needed about 100 extras, 40 nights a summer. People of all ages dressed as Roman guards, Jerusalem citizens of 2000 years ago, camel leaders, King Herod’s court, etc. The play’s story was serious — the story of Christ’s trials and crucifixion — but backstage there was a spirit of fun, with free refreshments, card games, and lively conversation. People who lost touch with one another due to busy schedules over the winter were reconnected, teenage romances blossomed, and there was a way for every member of a family to be a part of it all. It lasted for 70 years. Some Spearfish residents never missed a summer over their entire lifetime.
January 25th, 2009 at 5:33 pm
[...] a blog that made me think and will probably prompt you to do the same. The blog post is entitled Does Your Community Need A Coffee Shop and Other Third Places? What’s a ‘third place’ you ask? Here’s how Mike Knutson described the concept, originally [...]
February 21st, 2009 at 11:58 am
I was recently in Higher Grounds, the coffee shop in Howard, SD that Mike mentions above. Here’s the scene I enjoyed: at a table behind me, there were 4 people in town on business from Germany, speaking in German and a little broken English while experiencing the turkey Rueben special of the day (no joke). At other tables were a group of men and women speaking Spanish, a young mother with two small children sitting on the couch near the fireplace, a group of three students talking in the local English dialect, a table of local elders welcoming everyone as they came in from the cold, and another group of business men from New York City meeting with a local entrepreneur and speaking what almost seemed like a foreign language to local folks.
Big diversity in a little town, but the coolest part is they all interacted with each other in various ways during the busy lunch hour.
Third places as rural melting pots. Nice stuff. Had Higher Grounds not opened last Fall, I doubt this kind of diversity would have gathered in one place in Howard–on that day or any other.
Thanks for starting this conversation Mike.
September 13th, 2009 at 6:58 am
[...] Your Town Needs A Coffee Shop! (No Love Yet) Loading … [...]
November 23rd, 2009 at 10:36 pm
[...] your community where you can share ideas, such as coffee shops. Mike goes into detail about the characteristics of third places here. Third places are neutral ground, accessible and accommodating, and are places where you [...]