Posts Tagged ‘third places’

10 Reasons “Third Places” matter to Rural Communities

January 26th, 2010

Admittedly, I go a little overboard on emphasizing the importance of “third places” to the future of rural communities, but my gut tells me they play a more vital role in the social and economic wellbeing of our rural communities than most people give them credit for.   

For those who haven’t heard of them before, third places are where people meet and socialize outside of their homes (first places) and their work (second places). Sociologist Ray Oldenburg is credited with drawing attention to third places through his influential book, The Great Good Place.  Back in January 2009, I wrote this post titled “Does your Community need a Coffee Shop and other Third Places?”  It’s still one of our more popular posts here at Reimagine Rural.    

Lacking in any of my previous writing about third places, however, is a comprehensive explanation of how third places impact the economic wellbeing of small, rural communities - or any community for that matter.  For that reason, I’ve produced the following resource guide to illuminate why rural communities must get serious about their efforts to develop strong third places in their communities. 

10 Reasons Third Places Matter to Rural Communities

1. Third places are cool…and rural places could stand a little cool. It’s no secret that young people today crave “cool” environments to live and hang out. What receives less attention, however, is research that suggests Gen Yers often choose where to live before seeking permanent employment; and that “coolness” plays a role in this decision making process. If true, this tells us that for rural communities to attract young people, they need to develop some cool places young people crave. And what better way to do it than by creating a place where young and old can get together. (Another article on the subject can be found here.)

2. Third places introduce new people to the community. I’ve noted in previous posts, how important it is for new residents and visitors to feel welcomed by a community.  Wall Street Journal writer Gwendolyn Bounds offers a personal perspective of how Guinans, an Irish pub, welcomed her into the Garrison, NY community and played a critical role in her choice to move there. As Bounds came to frequent the pub, “regulars” at Guinans taught her (a former NYC resident) a great deal about how to live in a rural community (i.e. use a chain saw, fix the plumbing, and deal with the snow). It’s possible that new residents can become a part of a community without a third place, but third places seem to make the process a lot easier.

3. Third Places improve the quality of life in a community. Quality of life means different things to different people. Some say quality of life requires a community to have a strong “night life.” Other, say it requires safe environments. But as this research suggests, people who live in communities with third places perceive the quality of life in their community as being higher than those who live without them.

4. Third Places are good for tourism. When people go on vacation they are typically looking for a unique experience. More and more, they also want that experience to be authentic. In other words, they want to get a sense of a community’s character, rather than an image developed by a corporate marketing department. If your community has a scenic wonder like the Grand Canyon, or man-made attraction like the Mall of America, you may not need to worry about a third place. But as tourism expert Roger Brooks of Destination Development Inc. notes, third places are a part of each community’s “brand” and can become places where locals and visitors meet each other. If you want further proof on the importance of third places to tourism, just look at what the Irish pub has done for tourism in Ireland.

5. Third places can help improve the business climate in your small town. Increasingly entrepreneurs need to work from anywhere and at anytime. That’s why cell service, broadband internet, and wifi accessibility are vital infrastructure to any rural community. But does your community have a place where entrepreneurs can meet with clients and business partners, take advantage of technology, and remain connected to the office? If not, your community may be frustrating entrepreneurs more than you realize.

6. Third places stimulate creativity. I work from home quite a bit. Sometimes, the solitude becomes deafening, and I need to be around people. I’ve discovered that in addition to combating isolation, third places help stimulate both my productivity and creativity. Surprisingly, I’m not alone. I recently learned that J.K. Rowlings turns to cafés for inspiration while writing her monumental Harry Potter books. Now she’s creative! (And just think what would happen if a third place in your community inspired the next Harry Potter series.)

7. Third Places help people age in place. Back in the 1990s, the Rural Learning Center focused on developing senior housing options (like independent and assisted living) in our community because we learned that helping seniors age in place was important to their quality of life. F. Kaid Benfield recognized that same issue in this blog post where he emphasized that communities who follow smart growth principles should develop third places for seniors that they can walk to. The point here is that seniors need to be active and engaged. That could be accomplished with a senior citizens facility. But a more efficient use of resources would involve developing third places where all generations visit.

8. Third Places can help create jobs.  Cooltown Studios has published numerous blogs posts about third places in urban areas.  I particularly like this post, which highlights how third places help build conversations that lead to entrepreneurial thinking, a requirement for growing our economy.   On one hand, saying that third places lead to job growth is a bit abstract for me, but I do believe it’s a good reminder that entrepreneurs need places to network and build conversations in order to generate new ideas that will hopefully lead to job growth. 

9. Third Places will never be replaced by social networking sites like Facebook. There’s a school of thought suggesting that physical third places are being replaced by virtual ones. In other words, Facebook is the new third place. Now let me be clear: I believe rural communities should consider developing an online social networking strategy as a part of their economic development work. It’s a great way to connect with people both inside and outside your community. But as Mary Newsom writes on Citiwire: online social networks as third places are “mere metaphors for the real thing.”

10. Third Places help build conversation …. and conversation leads to trust. One of the beautiful things about quality third places is that they bring together people of all socio-economic backgrounds. As conversation emerges in a third place, people begin to know, understand, and trust each other. Sociologists call this bridging social capital and have recognized its importance in community and economic development in rural places. (As this paper suggest, bridging social capital is the entry point for strengthening your community socially and economically.) On a basic level, most of us can appreciate that whenever people come together for open conversation, they begin to trust each other. And when people trust each other, it’s a lot easier to get things done in our communities.

I’ve been thinking and writing about the importance of third places in rural communities for a couple years now, and I’ve really noticed the growth of good resources being published online. In addition to sharing some of those resources as links above, I’ve attempted to save my favorites to my Delicious account.  Even though I’ve saved over 60 recourses, I know the list is incomplete. 

That’s why I’d like to ask for your help.  Feel free to check out my list of favorites on Delicious, but just as important, please share your favorites with me.  And don’t think that my “10 Reasons Third Places are important to Rural Communities” list above is complete either.  I plan to revise the list in the near future, and include your thoughts and new discoveries in it.

 

Photo Credits:

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5 Ways Rural Communities can get ready for Gen Y

December 11th, 2009

This is the 3rd in a series of posts offering my thoughts about an article Gwendolyn Bounds wrote for the Wall Street Journal titled “Green Acres is the Place to be.” Her article highlights a small but hopefully growing trend of young people moving to rural places.  When I started writing, I only intended one article.  But the story continues to garnish my attention. (You can read previous post here and here.)           

The people highlighted in the Bounds’ article all purchased small tracts of land in Rural America. They are raising animals, growing crops, and hunting animals for food. It’s interesting to me that none decided to live in a town or hamlet. 

I think I understand why these young people, called Gen Y, are attracted to purchasing a house and land in the countryside, and I think it’s a good thing - at least in the Midwest, where the countryside has been depopulated.  I do recognize the potential problems around urban sprawl and the conflict between hobby farms and production agriculture.  But in general, I think the positives outweigh the negatives in my part of the country. 

I also think there’s an opportunity for small, rural towns to position themselves as places where Gen Y wants to move. Previously, I’ve written about that subject in a series of posts tagged “attracting college educated.” Regardless of whether they live in town or outside, however, I think there are things that rural communities can do to prepare for and maximize the movement of younger people to Rural America.   And I’d like to share my thoughts on that subject below.

 

5 tips for preparing your community for a Gen Y

Following the theme of understanding the characteristics of Gen Y, I’d recommend rural communities consider the following activities:

1) Help create economic opportunities. Yesterday, I highlighted that individuals moving to rural places were seeking a variety of opportunities. The subject is mute if economic opportunities for the rural transplants don’t exist. To some people that means rural communities need to recruit businesses for new job growth. And that’s good strategy for some communities. But I’ve long been a fan of entrepreneurship training programs, like economic gardening. Developing and marketing a good entrepreneurship program could be a boon for attracting Gen Y. After all, Gen Y is known to be very entrepreneurial. (Read more about Gen Y’s entrepreneurial tendencies here and here.) 

2) Make sure your community has third places that help introduce newcomers. We’ve talked previously about the importance of pubs, coffee shops, cafes, and community centers that function as “informal meeting places where community is built.” (Ray Oldenburg, The Great Good Place) If you don’t believe me, check out this blog produced by Gwendolyn Bounds about a little pub in Garrison, NY. Bounds credits the sense of community she experienced while visiting the pub as part of the reason she moved to the region from NYC. 

3) Develop good broadband internet capacities and wi-fi hot spots. No doubt about it; Gen Y is very techy. In fact, some experts say young people look at technology like cell phones and other wireless devices as extensions of themselves. That’s hard concept for many older people to grasp, but not having good Internet access in your rural community will drive young people crazy - and possibly somewhere else.

4) Help young people figure out “What am I going to do in this town?” In case you haven’t noticed, Gen Y is very social. Granted, some of that social activity is on-line, but they love to get together for a good time as well. That’s what led college student Morgan Andenas to write a blog post last summer titled “What am I suppose to do in this town?” in which she recommends inviting young people to be a part of community projects that include social opportunities. Another idea for helping young people fit in can be accomplished by creating Young Professional Groups.

5) Rethink how you “engage” Gen Y in your community. Too often, older generations treat young adults like kids, which is a real turn-off to them. They firmly believe they have something valuable to contribute, and are sometimes offended when you don’t ask them to do so. I still think this post titled “How to Engage Gen Y in Rural Communities” is an excellent guide for any person or organization that wants to make younger people feel a part of their organization or community. Younger people today want to feel valuable.

 

Before wrapping up this post, I’d like to make one more point.  I realize that most small town residents in the Midwest and Great Plains probably don’t believe there’s a significant opportunity to attract Gen Y to rural communities through entrepreneurship, third places, technology and engagement.  I too have some doubts about it growing into a full-fledged movement.  But I do believe we can make our rural communities more attractive to younger people if we are intentional in our efforts.  In fact, I believe that’s something we have to do in order to have a future at all. 

And if you want a proof that intentional efforts of this nature can be successful, take a look at what they are doing at Energize Clinton County in Wilmington, Ohio.  Their efforts are already starting to attract Gen Y.

Photo Credit: Daquella manera - Flickr 

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Why do I write this stuff

September 16th, 2009

 I have to admit that lately I’ve been questioning why I spend so much time writing stuff about rural communities.  After all, couldn’t I make a bigger impact on the rural communities if I spent my daily efforts working in a rural community like I used to? Could I do more if I were an economic development director in a rural community?

But yesterday at the Rural Housing Playbook Conference, Joe Fiala of the On Hand Development Corp. in Miller, SD reminded me that there is value in having blogs where people can dream out-load, and where we can ask questions that seldom get asked.  Questions like “Does your community need a coffee shop?”

 

What Joe told me

I think Joe and I had only meet once before, so I was surprised when Joe came up to me and said that he was both a regular reader of ReImainge Rural and that he occasionally used a blog post to generate conversation with his board members at meetings. 

Instead of uttering, “Seriously?” (which probably showed on my face), I thanked him and asked how he was using it to generate conversation. 

He explained that he occasionally prints off a post, gives it to board members, and asks them to talk about it.  For instance, a while back he gave them a copy of “Does your community need a coffee shop?” and asked them to think about where new residents and younger people in Miller go to socialize and why having such a place would be important.  I was impressed to hear that they were talking about the role coffee shops play in community development work.  It’s the type of stuff most economic development groups don’t think about. 

 

The coffee shop idea didn’t make the cut

Later in the conversation, Joe somewhat sheepishly admitted that they are not actively working to develop a third place in Miller.  I think Joe didn’t wanted to hurt my feelings, but he was honest in saying it did not make their list of projects to work on.

Far from hurting my feelings, I was ecstatic.  Something I had written had caused an economic development group to “reimagine” their work.   They were digging in, conversing, and rethinking what they wanted their community to be like.  To me that’s incredible.  (By the way, that’s the “U Process” at work.)

Admittedly, I think every community needs a coffee shop that serves as a third place. I think they increase the community’s social capital that will in the long run help the community get more things done.  In other words, community members are less likely to waste their time fighting each other over the projects they are working on, resulting in increased productivity. 

But that doesn’t mean that I think Miller’s economic development group should invest their time and energy into making it a reality.  They may have more important stuff to work on, and should be congratulated for just thinking about it.

 

Ok, I am a little disappointed

If anything disappointed me about our conversation, it was that neither Joe or his board have joined in the conversation on ReImagine Rural. 

When we created the tag line “Building a deep conversation about the future of rural” we did so did so because we believe that generating conversations is key to building a brighter future for rural communities. 

Never have we felt that our experiences at the Rural Learning Center provide us with all the answers.  Nor do we believe that others should be “listening” to us.  Rather it’s about raising issues, asking questions, sharing ideas, and rethinking the future.  And that’s where Joe (and you) come in. 

I could tell from our short talk that Joe can contribute to the conversation.  I asked him if he’d consider posting comments about the importance of third places.  I’m hoping that he’ll even write a guest post or two someday about other subjects.  If he does, I’m confident that his contribution will help someone else who is wrestling with similar issues. 

 

It takes time

I know that it takes time to write comments or guest posts for blogs.  And I know that it can take time away from the more immediate projects that everyone is working on.  

In fact, as I reflect on the questions I posed at the top of this post, I think that’s what I’ve been wrestling with.  Is there value in writing about rural community issues as I do on this blog?  Or should I be spending my time “doing” something as I try to help rural communities. 

Only time will bear an answer, but for now, I’m going to keep plugging away.  The one thing that I am sure of, however, is that rural communities across America will benefit from YOU joining the conversation. 

 

Note:  If you want to join the conversation, feel free to send me an e-mail at mike@ruraltransformations.com

 Photo Credit (top right): limaoscarjuliet - Flickr

 

 

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Higher Grounds at South Dakota Magazine

June 4th, 2009

Although it’s not Wall Drug - at least not yet - Howard’s Higher Ground Coffee is fast becoming famous as a “third place.”  Yesterday, it was featured on South Dakota Magazine’s blog. 

I actually knew the post was coming because Bernie Hunhoff and Paul Higbee had stopped by the office last week, shortly after stopping in at Higher Grounds.  We chatted briefly about the role of third places in “building community” and their importance to community development. It was a fun conversation.

As I read Bernie’s post, I was captivated by his photograph, and a thought popped into my mind:  wouldn’t it be fun to create a photostream of third places in rural communities?  If anyone is interested in this type of collaborative project or has ideas about how to accomplish it, I’d appreciate hearing from you.  I’ll spend some time thinking about how “we” can accomplish this as community of people who are committed to rural communities.

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Third Places, the workplace, Facebook, and Starbucks

May 19th, 2009

Catherine Bergart gets the value of value of third places.  In an excellent piece written for the New York Times titled “Losing the Income, and the Camaraderie“, Bergart walks the reader through the tribulations of losing her job at a place she considered her third place.  (Read more about third places here.)

While losing her source of income was traumatic, she considers the loss of the camaraderie at her former third place as the real tragedy of her job loss.  Try as she might, Facebook and Starbucks, couldn’t provide the “social nourishment” she craves.

Bergart writes about third places from the perspective of an individual, while much of our writing about third places (at ReImagine Rural) has focused on its community development implications.  What I find relevant to rural communities, however, is that she discerns the weakness of pseudo-third places like Facebook and Starbucks.    Neither offers the richness of the social interaction between people of disparate backgrounds that that a true third place delivers.

And that’s why I’m both excited and skeptical about social media at the same time.  While I firmly believe rural communities need to develop a social media strategy to connect to people — especially to those people whose lives have taken them outside of the community - I’m not convinced that it can generate the deep relationships that will move our rural communities towards the transformation they need.   

But maybe that’s ok.  We probably shouldn’t think of Web 2.0 technologies like Facebook as the end-all tool.  Like physical third places, they are probably just one piece of the complex puzzle to creating vibrant rural communities.

Other Resources:

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Third Places in the blogosphere

May 8th, 2009

As mentioned previously, I believe third places help build social capital within a community, make a community a more attractive place to live, and help develop a sense of place.  It’s probably a stretch to say they can solve every problem in a community, but I think third places are pretty important. 

We haven’t spent much time talking about third places lately, so I thought I’d provide a quick highlight on a couple references that I have stumbled across in the blogosphere lately.

First, Daryl Phillips, Executive Director of the Hickman County Economic Development Association, discovered our original post about third places and writes about the role third places play in his community. 

Second, the eclectic blog titled Our Third Place was launched in February.  To date, seven posts populate the site, providing first hand experiences of third places. 

Third, an older post on The Greater Great Washington blog describes how a third place can help make a community more attractive and walkable. Granted it references Washington, DC, but I think there is still some applicability for rural. 

These are but three of the innumerable posts about third places that have come to my attention.  In the future, I’ll try to do a better job of bringing them to your attention as well.

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Grow the local economy: It’s not just about jobs anymore

April 9th, 2009

Michigan’s economy has been pounded by job losses in recent years.  To reverse this trend some communities have attempted to increase their investment in traditional marketing and business recruiting.  According to Dan Gilmartin, the Michigan Municipal League’s CEO and executive director, those efforts may be misplaced.

According to an article in the The Daily Telegraph , Gilmartin told the Adrian (MI) City Commission that community leaders need to focus on making their communities more attractive places to live if they hope to become a part of the knowledge economy.  This is important because younger people (Gen Y) identify places they want to live first and then they focus on employment.   

So what makes a community a place where people want to live?  One of the features Gilmartin identified is third places.    (Read more about our thoughts on third places here.) 

Gilmartin also dropped a bombshell that is probably still reverberating among community leaders.  When asked where the city should invest $100,000 in the chamber of commerce and traditional marketing or quality of life issues, Gilmartin told them quality of life.  (Hopefully the chamber is working on these issues already.) 

You will find a lot of other interesting ideas in The Daily Telegraph article that Gilmartin shared with the Adrian City Council.  I hope you will read it and check out the additional links I’ve provided below.  We could all benefit from learning more about what will make the economy of the future click. 

 

Other Resources

Dan Gilmartin’s guest columns on the MetroMode blog.  Gilmartin provides his thoughts about important issues for Michigan’s cities to consider as they develop a knowledge economy. 

Dan Gilmartin:  What is Michigan’s Redevelopment Plan.  In this Slideshare presentation, Gilmartin outlines Michigan’s current effort to redevelop their economy.

Adrian Area Chamber of Commerce Website.  A quick review of their website suggests the chamber is already looking at some quality of life issues.

“Localism:  What’s the attraction” on the New Geography Blog.  Written by Connie Loden, the Executive Director for Heart of Wisconsin Business & Economic Alliance, the article describes the impact  ”localism” and “sense of place” have on attracting people to a community.

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Gathering at the Grocery Store

March 18th, 2009

In my post today, I’d like to connect a few dots.  In the past few months, I’ve written about two communities (Clark, SD and Menno, SD) who stepped up to the plate and purchased retail operations when private buyers for the ventures could not be identified.  I’ve also written about the importance of “third places” in strengthening community bonds, and how they can positively impact the community’s economic development. )

It wasn’t until reflecting on a recent e-mail from Dr. Dave Engen, the founder of the “Third Place Project,” that I realized what a great opportunity both communities have to create third places out of their community-owned retail stores. 

We seldom think of grocery and variety stores as being places where “people meeting informally and build strong social connections,” but Dr. Engen’s work provides examples of both grocery and hardware stores that do so. 

I’m not sure if either community has considered their stores as community gather places, but I’d encourage them to do so.  And if they - or any community following their lead - want evidence of how it can be accomplished, I’d encourage them to check out the audio casts at the “Third Place Project“.

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Third Places in South Central Minnesota

February 25th, 2009

If you haven’t figured out what third places are all about, I’d highly recommend you check out an oral history project called “The Third Place Project.” 

Part of a larger project intended to record the oral history of the South Central Minnesota region, the “Third Place Project” focuses on third places in Mankato, MN.   

Although Mankato is not rural, I think the audio recordings do an outstanding job of showing the importance of third places in building a sense of community, regardless of a community’s size.  The recordings also offer great insights into how small business owners can compete against larger business in urban areas.  For instance:

In a slideshow about Dan’s Barbershop, you’ll hear long-time barber Dan Quaderer talk about the art of building relationships.  To quote Dan “”Haircutting isn’t about haircutting.  It’s about building relationships.”  

Through numerous audio recordings with customers of Mocol’s Supermarket, you can learn how the owners of a grocery store facilitated political discussions and encourage civic involvement.

Listening to the interviews on at the Wagon Wheel Restaurant, one gets the feeling that people from all walks of life make the place special, including college students and retirees. 

Developed by Dave Engen, an instructor in the Department of Speech Communication at Minnesota State University, the “The Third Place Project” is a must for anyone interested in third places. 

Other resources include:

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The Soul of the Community — Community-Citizen Engagement

February 10th, 2009

Economic development professionals often focus solely on job development.  The more jobs created the greater likelihood the community as a whole will judge their job performance a success. A study of 26 communities by the Knight Foundation, however, suggests that economic growth is linked to residents’ loyalty, emotional attachment and engagement to a community.  This suggests that how people feel about their community should be a measure of an economic development professional’s job performance. 

Funded by the John S. and John L. Knight Foundation and conducted by Gallup Inc., the study measured residents’ emotional connection to their community and found a direct correlation to the community’s gross domestic product (GDP).  In other words, the greater the attachment people have towards their community, the greater the community’s economic growth (as measured by GDP).

The following video offers a brief summary.


 

While I definitely believe the Knight Foundation is onto something big, I want to caution that so far they’ve only shown a correlation between community engagement and GDP.  Over the next two years, they intend to “analyze the trends to prove whether emotional connection drives economic growth, or the other way around”(from foundation’s press release ”How much do you love where you live?”).

I’d also like to be clear that community and economic development professionals can’t neglect job creation strategies altogether.  Job development and community engagement need to go hand-in-hand.

The Knight Foundation has published the results of this study on a website titled “The Soul of the Community.”  I intend to dig into the research further and will report back.  Until then, I’ve summarized a few of the studies main points, which were highlighted in the foundation’s press release.  

Other Key Points of the study

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