Author Archives: Carrie Tsang

In the article “Our Vanishing ‘Third Places” Ray Oldenburg argues that our happiness hinges on our ability to socialize with the people around us, and we need places where we can support this social interaction. Oldenburg coined these places as “third places,” defining the “first place” as home and the “second place” as work.

Oldenburg outlined the importance of “third places.” They serve has hubs; they benefit communities by providing people with a place for getting information, exchanging ideas, and connecting with each other. Since Oldenburg wrote this article, we have (to some extent) resolved many of these needs with the internet. We have created accessible virtual places within games, social media, and public forums where we can chat and mingle. There are innumerable ways to be informed, entertained and self educated with the internet. While Oldenburg’s vision relied on a local gathering place that people can walk to, we now have an even closer alternative right at our fingertips.

Still, it’s worthwhile to consider the nuances of Oldenburg’s physical “third place” today. Even though the internet has created a version of his “third place,” it doesn’t quite hit all of his points. While the internet can help facilitate conversations, it does not directly replace meeting someone in person. On the internet, we have a high amount of control over who we meet, when we meet, and how we meet. It doesn’t help populate Oldenburg’s barren suburban streets nor does it create the ideal conditions for the casual, spontaneous interactions that he valued. While we have invented technology for us to communicate efficiently, we have not created technology to communicate naturally like we do in real life. We can’t hug a sad friend who is miles away. Unless provoked, most people aren’t proactive to meet their neighbors. Oldenburg’s physical “third place” forces individuals to step out from behind the screen and actively participate in their surroundings. Unlike your computer or device, you can’t turn off or log out of your physical environment. Oldenburg wants people to contribute to the humanity of a community by being both mentally and physically present.

There is certainly value to physical “third places.” Yet, I don’t think that “third places” need to be formal structures like Oldenburg’s taverns or corner stores. Even though proximity is obviously convenient, his argument for “walking cities” might be irrelevant in the next few years. With driverless cars or even improved public transportation, it will be much easier for anyone to make it to their “third places” no matter what the distance is. Accessibility is no longer a strong enough reason for building local physical “third places.” (Though urban sprawl might be.) Kathy Madden’s article “Third Places I Know” describes impromptu “third places” that occur on the sidewalk or in a parking lot – a place forms when and where ever people happen to meet. Services like MeetUp, Lyft, Swarm and even dating apps start to create flexible gathering places that can occur while in route or in situ. I imagine that the future of “places” won’t all be contained in neatly framed buildings. They’ll be unconventional, shapeshifting and mobile – maybe they’ll be highly evolved food trucks or mobile gyms?