Third places — cafes, community centers, and other public places that, as sociologist Ray Oldenburg observed, may increase communal ties by hosting “the regular, voluntary, informal, and happily anticipated gatherings of individuals beyond the realms of home and work” — are in the news once again. New research shows that these places helped cushion the effect of the pandemic across a range of measures, including personal bankruptcies, mental-health outcomes, and coronavirus infections and deaths. It has long been theorized that these “third places” play a powerful role in anchoring and sustaining community, and they undeniably have done so during the pandemic. The latest research shows which type of third place does the most good in creating social capital and community strength.
Thanks to data from a recent national survey on community satisfaction, we have a deeper understanding of how third places influence communities. It is often assumed that levels of connectivity to one’s neighborhood are a function of the population density of the place where one lives, whether it be a big-city center, a more isolated rural area, or a sprawling leafy suburb. The survey data prove that assumption misguided. They show that what makes a difference in terms of feeling locally connected is having third places nearby and that the most impactful third places are spaces of private consumption, such as cafes and restaurants, and not public facilities like community centers and libraries, which are often touted as community anchors and saviors.
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