Third place issues
Third places are what we might call community hubs. It's a term popularized by Ray Oldenburg in a book of the same title.
-- Third places” as community builders, Brookings
-- "Third places, true citizen spaces," UNESCO
Robert Putnam, Bowling Alone. There is a documentary out, "Join or Die," featuring Robert Putnam, who has been writing about this for decades ("A Forthcoming Documentary Examines How Civic Life in America Is a Matter of ‘Join or Die’," Colossal).
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“There’s a true sense of community that falls away when pubs disappear,” she says. “You lose a sense of history.” Given the crucial role that pubs have played in local neighborhoods, it’s perhaps no surprise that some communities have stepped in themselves to keep the lights on.When the Step pub in north London closed in 2020, there was an outcry as property developers tried to take it over, leading Dan Jones, a resident of four years, to consider a different solution: “Why don’t we try and buy it as a community?”He began handing out fliers and, in a matter of weeks, “very quickly realized there was a large appetite” to enact his plan. Hundreds of people pledged to invest in a fundraising campaign, and within four weeks, the effort raised $357,000 — far in excess of the $319,000 goal — which was topped up by a government grant of $382,000. “It took us by surprise, the speed at which we were able to raise the money and the fact that we got over target,” Jones says.
... Keeping prices low — a pint of beer costs from $6, compared with $9 at many London pubs — and offering the space for free to community groups and activities including kids’ clubs, Italian classes and local folk musicians has eased concerns about gentrification and fostered new connections, Gadsby Peet says.
And corner stores, which in the cities like New York, continue on as bodegas ("What Makes A New York City Convenience Store A Bodega," Tasting Table).
Social halls. In the US, there were/are some uncommodified spaces like churches, church social halls (where the DC punk movement got its start), old political precincts and ward halls, and ethnic based associations and meeting halls, like German American groups, or the "Chinese associations" in US Chinatowns ("How COVID and anti-Asian hate conspired to gut family associations in Chinatown," San Francisco Chronicle).
I have written about how many Salt Lake neighborhoods have what I call "neighborliness," with community events like movies in the park, pot lucks, and 4th of July parades, which I think comes from the Mormons and their organizing around their church.
Music places (""Ground up (guerrilla) art #2: community halls and music (among other things)."," 2011).
Community/recreation centers can do it too. But not usually. Programming is key. Jewish Community Centers are another form. Like the 92nd Street Y in New York City.
Beer Gardens. The Philadelphia Horticultural Society, followed by the city parks system, has been a leader in creating pop up beer gardens as community revitalization levers.
The Wall Street Journal had a good article on parks, "Cities' Message to Young Families: Play and Stay--New Features Include Parks, Playgrounds and Beer Gardens," (also) and I was struck by the description of what we might call a blending of business and park, specifically food and beverage service, and that "beer gardens" are the most in-demand feature of new parks ("Commerce as the engine of urbanism and parks," 2014).
I guess it makes sense, given the historical connection to beer production, that Milwaukee County in Wisconsin has beer gardens in some of their parks, and a traveling beer garden park promotion program.This reminds me of the comment by Professor Alex Wall, who wrote a book about Victor Gruen, one of the leaders in the development of shopping malls, which is:
"Commerce is the engine of urbanism."
Union halls and fraternal organizations too (like the Masons). Also see "Back to school #2: education unions should create multifaceted public education "meeting halls" comparable to AIA chapter "architecture centers"" (2016). Plus veterans and the American Legion and VFW halls ("Social organizations and aging: The benefits of VFW membership," KU thesis).
These kinds of institutions have waned as society has become more individualized and nuclear family focused, but also as the organization of business activity has changed. For example, in once industrial cities like Baltimore or Pittsburgh you had lots of neighborhood bars, not unlike England's pubs, catering to people who did shift work, as plants often operated 24 hours/day. Same with breakfast places/diners.
Membership libraries. Before public institutions like libraries, a number of communities had membership libraries like the Free Library of Philadelphia, and multi-faceted cultural organizations called an Athenaeum in cities like Boston, Hartford, and Alexandria, Virginia--all are still going strong.
There was a membership library in DC called Provisions that attempted this model. They have since affiliated with George Mason University in the suburbs.
Increasingly, regular libraries too are that third place, although few have coffee shops, and there aren't many opportunities for interaction ("social bridge" concepts). You're with people, but alone.
-- "Outdoor library book sale as an opportunity for "social bridging"/triangulation," 2022
Book clubs.... Some of the libraries in Salt Lake County have cookbook clubs, where people cook a recipe from a chosen book and share the results in a pot luck.
Mixed use civic assets. This article outlines a fair number of mixed use examples of civic assets promoting third place type community building.
-- "Update: Neighborhood libraries as nodes in a neighborhood and city-wide network of cultural assets," 2019
Goucher College in Baltimore County calls its an athenaeum too.
The building combines the college’s main library and student activities center. Besides the campus library, the building has spaces for performances, lectures, and other events, an art gallery, the campus center for community service and multicultural affairs, fitness facilities, meeting and study spaces, and a café..
Social property. Our market system isn't set up well for nonprofit properties, the BTMFBA writings, not withstanding.
But lots of commodification, and a very specific aesthetic, called the Global Village Coffeehouse. Still, while there are a lot of chains, and some failed chains, there has been room for independents to make their place within this ecosystem. Most bigger cities have an array of cool places.
But there's a lot of bad coffee out there too. We're looking at you Starbucks! But they provide the third space.
Note they have a more bar-ry night-time concept too, ("'Evenings' at Starbucks: Coffee shop to sell wine, craft beer, small plates," USA Today).
That's what Xando/Cozi did, at least in DC in the 90s. It was cool, they had stores at each end of Dupont Circle, and we made friends with some of the staff, etc. ("Coffee, with a twist," Washington Post, 1997, "New battle brews in coffee war," Washington Business Journal).
For a long time they had excellent bagels that were square and baked in a wood oven in house. Maybe 10 years ago, they went to regular and the magic was over. But the company never figured out how to manage.
They had food throughout the day that was better than a regular coffee shop, plus alcohol at night.
Bookstores are great for hanging and attending events. Not sure about making "social bridges." Bur a lot of Barnes & Nobles have cafes (and books and periodicals!). Fortunately most cities of at least a medium size have some decent independent bookstores that sponsor events, etc.
WeWork/Shared Spaces/Co-working. The WeWork "hot desk" phenomenon too is an element of creating third spaces, although definitely for a profit.
People don't always want to be isolated and alone ("Even as WeWork goes bankrupt, co-working is poised to survive and thrive in other spaces," GeekWire, "sIkea is betting you'll come to its coworking space in a mall, then shop at one of its stores," Business Insider).
Project for Public Spaces: The Power of 10. PPS addresses placemaking at multiple scales. One concept is the "power of 10," where places need multiple elements to not only attract people, but to keep them there, and keep them coming back.
Third Place issues around the country
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Washington State corner stores and cafes ("WA bill to build community through neighborhood cafes faces roadblock," Seattle Times). There is an initiative to make zoning at the state level more amenable to corner store legalization to deal with third place issues. But there's pushback.
FWIW, I learned a lot from a coffee shop in a strip center in West Seattle. That you can have a cool space, even if the exterior is dull. Buildings are envelopes.
-- "More thoughts on suburban hipness (it's really about commercial hipness generally, not urban vs. suburban)," 2013
-- "BTMFBA Chronicles: Seattle coffee shop raises money to buy its building," 2018
This came up in DC many years ago. There are two problems. You need a few thousand people to make the business work, and most neighborhoods don't have that kind of density. Cost of property is expensive. But there are some in DC still, more remnants of the previous era not new initiatives like Broad Branch Market and Mott's Market in Capitol Hill ("Revisiting Mott's Market corner store in Capitol Hill DC: residents buy the building after all," 2022).
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Gay bars as safe spaces. I am really embarrassed that a few years ago I wrote about the decline of LGBTQ+ third places in terms of assimilation.
Obviously, Republican states are proving that it can be very difficult out there for people who seemingly are against "the norm" ("House Republicans are adding dozens of anti-LGBTQ+ measures to must-pass bills," the 19th, "Republicans Are Winning Their War on LGBTQ Rights," The New Republic, "Don't take gay marriage for granted," Boston Globe, "Greg Abbott tells U.N. to 'go pound sand' over concerns about LGBTQ+ rights in Texas," San Antonio Current, "Voters ban Pride flags on city property in California beach town. ‘It sets a tone’ " Sacramento Bee).
Safe spaces are needed ("The number of gay bars has dwindled. A new generation plans to bring them back," Washington Post).
The Post reports, "D.C.’s ‘queer living room’ was struggling. Then came $150K in donations," how one such bar facing closure on Capitol Hill raised over $150,000 to stay open. From the article:
As You Are, a combination cafe and bar, has played a unique role for the queer community since it opened on a corner of Barracks Row in March 2022. Unlike many LGBTQ+ entertainment spaces, it focuses on more than just nightlife and emphasizes consent in all interactions. A downstairs area is set up as a coffee shop, with stacks of board games in a corner, while a bar and dance floor upstairs are used for events such as disco nights and karaoke. Some have described the establishment as a “queer living room” where everyone is not only welcome, but actively embraced.
But the business has faced numerous financial challenges since its opening, including a delayed launch and a slow period last summer. Nearly two years in, Pike and their co-owner and spouse, Jo McDaniel, found themselves with roughly $150,000 of debt. They realized on Feb. 5 that they had to catch up on their tax payments to be eligible for D.C.-administered grants.
... Pike and McDaniel said they asked their landlord to renegotiate their $27,000-per-month rent to be based on sales, but were denied. At one point, they said, their real estate company sent them the wrong account number for a wire transfer. They still have not gotten back $18,000 of the payment they made to that incorrect account, they said.
Rueben Bajaj, their landlord, declined to discuss the details of his interactions with Pike and McDaniel but said his company has had “ongoing conversations” with them and “provided solutions.” Bajaj contributed $500 to the fundraiser because, he said, “I personally want to see As You Are succeed.”
The Washington Blade reports another bar will be opening in a couple months on 14th Street ("New gay bar on 14th Street to open in April"). From the article:
“This new venue, catering especially to the LGBTQ+ community, offers a cozy, inclusive space that reminisces about the times of record stores and basement hangouts with friends,” the statement says. “In its past life as a music store and radio supply shop, Crush transforms its legacy into a modern-day haven,” the statement continues. “It features top-notch DJ booths, a dance floor and a summer garden, alongside a premium sound system to ensure every night is memorable.”
Rutstein told the Washington Blade the new bar will have a capacity of accommodating 300 people on its two floors. He notes that the name ‘Crush” stems from the romantic crush that people often have for one another and his and Rutgers’ new bar is aimed at providing a friendly space for people to meet and socialize.
“We’re looking to be inclusive to everyone,” Rutstein said. “It’s certainly going to be heavy on the LGBT community” because he and Rutgers have been part of that community for many years. But he added, “We want to be inclusive to gays and lesbians being able to bring their friends and allies in along with them and not feel weird about it.”
Which reminds me that an LGBTQ+ book store opened in Salt Lake.
Again, it's not about assimilation as much as it is that people need supports on that continuum of their journey/age cohort, etc. ("Why we love Under the Umbrella, Salt Lake City’s little queer bookstore," USA Today). From the article:
What’s your store’s story?
Under the Umbrella Bookstore is your local queer bookstore. No other bookstore in the area specifically caters to the queer community, providing a safe space for queer folks of all ages to congregate and celebrate their stories. Under the Umbrella is meant to help bridge the gap between what Salt Lake City currently has and what the city needs by providing a safe, accessible, and inclusive space for everyone. Utah is predominantly white, which means there are even fewer places where the safety and comfort of queer people of color are prioritized.
And a sports bar ("The Locker Room: Salt Lake City's first gay sports bar," Salt Lake Tribune).
Toronto: Closing of McDonalds stores in neighborhood shopping centers. The Toronto Star writes, "When a neighbourhood mall McDonald's closes, more than food disappears,," about how the closure of McDonald's restaurants in area malls inadvertently reduces options for seniors Some letter writers weigh in as well, "We need more community spaces geared to seniors." From the article:
On the surface, it’s not sad news when a multibillion-dollar fast-food conglomerate closes a handful of locations (Scarborough is a culinary paradise, after all). But consider the role these spots located inside neighbourhood malls play in areas lacking places for people to gather, chat and evade freezing temperatures or the blazing sun.
While I wait for my breakfast, two older men behind me shove coins into each other’s hands, refusing to let the other pay for their coffee. The cashier looks on in amusement, clearly having witnessed this routine before.
That’s the charm of these neighbourhood malls, characterized by one or two anchor tenants – usually a department store, gym, supermarket or standalone fast-food joint – and non-chain retailers, as well as doctors’ and government offices. These malls aren’t destinations for luxury shopping, Instagram-friendly backdrops and ticketed “immersive experiences,” but rather they’re where local residents run errands and are able to hang out with friends for hours for the price of a $2 cup of coffee, a relatively low barrier in an increasingly unaffordable city.
... “(There were a lot of) seniors with their coffees sitting for hours,” he recalls, describing the scene at the now-defunct Eglinton Square McDonald’s. “It brings communities together like a coffee shop. It’s a reason to go out and come together when you didn’t have a lot of money. ... Whether you’re in high school or a senior, it’s the place to be. ... With Cedarbrae (Mall), Cedarbrae Collegiate (Institute) is right behind it, so thousands of kids over the years have been to that McDonald’s.”
New York City Puerto Rican neighborhood social club. Last year in the food section, the New York Times ran a story on the perseverance of a Puerto Rican social club in the face of a changing neighborhood ("Her Social Club Isn’t Going Anywhere. Toñita Has No Plans to Quit.").
In a part of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, that has been transformed in recent years by modern apartment buildings and fast-casual restaurants, a nondescript door on Grand Street is the entrance to Toñita’s, one of the last Puerto Rican outposts of its kind in New York City.
Here, the customers drink $3 beers and play dominoes, or sit around and chat over free plates of food like arroz con gandules. The walls are crowded with Puerto Rican flags and portraits of the bar’s owner and matriarchal figure,
Social clubs like Toñita’s are popular in Puerto Rico and Cuba. Photo: José A. Alvarado Jr. for The New York Times.
Maria Antonia Cay, who is more commonly known as Toñita. She opened the place in the 1970s as the Caribbean Social Club, a members-only hangout for the neighborhood baseball team. In 2000, she obtained a liquor license and opened the spot to everyone for cheap drinks and pots of Puerto Rican dishes that she makes in her apartment kitchen upstairs. (She bought the building decades ago.) “It reminds me of home,” said Djali Brown-Cepeda, an archivist and filmmaker who runs the Nuevayorkinos Instagram account.
As neighborhoods like Williamsburg gentrify and businesses owned and frequented by people of color close, many of the people who grew up there fear they’ll lose the community outposts where they can speak Spanish, dance and play games. Ms. Cay said she has been offered millions of dollars for the building but will not sell.
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Silent book clubs. Is a thing ("Silent Book Club gains traction in the Pittsburgh region," Pittsburgh Tribune). From the article:
The rules of Silent Book Club are simple: No assigned reading, no homework and no small talk required. Members are expected to show up at a designated meeting place with whatever title they’re enjoying, sit and read.
They can share thoughts if they want, but they don’t have to. The concept has revitalized the idea of joining a book club. It’s paradise for introverted readers and book vigilantes who don’t like the rules of traditional book clubs.
Civic assets as public facing opportunities for civic engagement and promotion of democracy. Am working on this wrt the Park I'm on the board of in Salt Lake in terms of volunteerism and meeting opportunities, as well as a proposal to the City Library to create a combination Dallas Public Library Urban Information Center and technical assistance center, with training opportunities, showing webinars from publications like Chronicle of Philanthropy, etc.
-- "Community cleanups and other activities as community building and civic engagement activities," which is somewhat misnamed as it discusses various types of spaces," 2011
-- "The layering effect: how the building blocks of an integrated public realm set the stage for community building and Silver Spring, Maryland as an example," 2012
Connelly leaned on a newly purchased volleyball net, a ball, and a powerful resource: the public park. Public spaces, which served as a lifeline for people during the pandemic, can be more thoughtfully designed to better foster human connection and combat loneliness.After corralling friends for a casual volleyball game, Connelly headed to a grassy spot in Lincoln Park, across the street from her apartment in Somerville. Several passersby, observing the group’s overhand serves and obvious camaraderie, asked to join the game. As Connelly, her friends, and their soon-to-be friends cleaned up the net after playing, they started a group chat to coordinate play times, resulting in what is now a group of more than 500 community members, and growing, who get together almost daily to socialize and play volleyball.... As an urban designer advocating for more sustainable, livable, and equitable cities, I hear communities express the need for sticky public spaces daily. To create them, I work with people across Greater Boston to transform unused storefronts into temporary vibrant social infrastructure, like community pop-ups that host regular events and serve as communal living rooms.These spaces make people feel welcome, represented, and connected to their neighborhoods, and this, in turn, builds social connections between visitors. Though the Lincoln Park volleyball group formed organically, it was no accident. The park was designed to spur the interactions that allowed the spontaneous group to grow. In 2018, the City of Somerville renovated the park, turning it from baseball fields into a lively space with a skate park, parkour area, basketball court, multiple playgrounds, hammock poles, a community garden, and much more.In the park’s redesign, these areas flow into one another — for example, the central path cuts through the skate park — creating connections between uses and users.... The park is also well integrated into the dense neighborhood of multifamily homes that surrounds it. On streets that dead-end at the park, the sidewalks continue without gates or other barriers. This confluence of environmental and programmatic design creates a park that is sticky.... Social infrastructure, like physical infrastructure, requires upkeep, investment, and adaptation. All communities deserve to have local public spaces that are designed to be sticky. Just as cities determine which roads and bridges need repair, so should they assess where their social infrastructure is lacking.City leaders can start by asking community members to finish the sentence “I wish I had a place to . . . " They can then take what they hear and use whatever space is available — an extra room in a library, a disused municipal building, even a parking lot — to create that place.
-- CultureHouse,
Labels: civic assets, civic commons, civic engagement, cultural planning, integrated public realm framework, libraries, urban design/placemaking
posted by Richard Layman @ 7:30 AM&Permanent Link
24 Comments:
Hey, first, medical checkup -- how are you doing. Get that appetite up.
I may have said this before, but the frozen indian entrees at TJ are not horrible options and taste relatively decent. That and some bread is hearty.
And please get an ebike and start moving!
In terms of 3rd places:
1. I wonder if it's a sign of undervalued real estate. You have to have rent low enough that the best business model is have people hang around all day and not buy a lot. Coffee shops are good for that as they are in lower cost areas in the city. In other cities maybe local bars. But what is the price point where that makes sense? 40 a sf rent? 25? 15?
2. "What Notting Hill reveals about the architecture of inequality"
https://on.ft.com/49USgXn
3. There is a model now in DC of a "membership" restaurant and/or club.
https://www.washingtonian.com/2023/06/05/this-new-dc-restaurant-requires-a-25-annual-membership-fee/
4. Boston lab space
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/02/20/labs-commercial-real-estate-boston/
5. https://www.drugdiscoverytrends.com/johnson-johnson-launches-bay-area-science-and-technology-campus/
https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/jj-shut-down-massive-bay-area-rd-facility-less-18-months-after-opening-it?utm_medium=email&utm_source=nl&utm_campaign=LS-NL-FierceLifeSci&oly_enc_id=2126A6601890F2W
(prediction is hard)
6. DC put together a "Downtown Relivlization Program" which is very large and expensive, the basic problem is massive oversupply and we need to start removing buildings. The ORC market is not going anywhere really, and until you get amenities why live in a downtown area.
https://www.bisnow.com/national/news/office/office-prices-need-to-drop-by-half-to-make-conversion-viable-report-123099
Lots to respond to... wrt health covid + non viral pneumonia + myocardial put me in hospital for 8 days. I'm very weak. Am eating, but I'm under 120. I will suggest to Suzanne about trying some TJs. Thanks. Sadly these days I'm not into bread.
A lot of the Indian food here is average but we seem to have found a place. I forget I like what I like. Eg I'm used to smaller wing like bits for tandoori. But leftovers of it tonight, which I am looking forward to.
So I don’t have “chemo mouth” but when I lost sense of smell I noticed that Indian food tasted better. More flavors and most important is mouth feel or texture.
Don’t know if near you but may want to look at sri balaji. Internet pictures suggest the vada with sambar or masala dosas would be good. Idili with sambar would be ok as well if they served sambar on the side.
On tj, the spinach and chickpeas dishes are better. Meat ones are ok but u stuck with those.
Gonna try TJs tonight. Early on Suzanne made a dal type dish In the Instapot. It was great but IP can be hit or miss. Will mention your advice! Thank you for the suggestion. I am a Reed. If things don't improve it'll be a feeding tube.
Yeah I generally don’t enjoy South Indian food ; it’s very alien to western tastes. I have comfort food associations but that’s about it. Don’t order it at restaurants
Was super amused when I got Covid and lost sense of smell I thought it was the bomb. My theory is south India smells so much that you lose the sense of smell and rely on taste buds and texture. Like a lot of traditional Spanish or Italian foods. (Cocido) Smell terrible but taste great. Or even pho. Good South Indian foods have a giant mixture ( thali). With rice and the spice levels have complexity and different layers.
Fun fact. The Japanese thought westerns all stank lien rancid butter. If you’ve had it once of the worse smells.
Chemo mouth is obviously different. I mean it’s in the taste buds.
What is your current bmi. ?
The other frozen Indian entries I’ve tried have been terrible. (Whole foods, Safeway etc )
Actually just had the sag paneer )spinach ) with bread for lunch.
Omg. Bmi. I weigh 111. With covid last year I lost 15 pounds so 160. Downhill since. I am eating now. Just resigned that my taste buds are flawed. Have to put sugar, salt, sauces on things. But this hospital stay easily cost me 10+ pounds. I was like 127 before.
Had that too with the final tandoori leftover. I didn't love the cheese but it was good! A bit of spice (I have to lay off spice, at least past lunch so I notice it more).
18.25. I meet the definition of malnutrition. Will be doing supplemental feeding tube. Shockingly my progneses are still good.
WA won't legalize cafes in residential neighborhoods, lawmakers decide
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/wa-wont-legalize-cafes-in-residential-neighborhoods-lawmakers-decide/
Thanks for the links. Interesting how companies can change their business model so fast.
And about "regentrification" as a different issue in Notting Hill.
https://www.pennlive.com/life/2024/02/drive-thru-coffee-cafe-opens-in-dauphin-county.html
Drive-thru coffee cafe opens in Dauphin County
TO Espresso, a mobile drive-thru, recently pulled into Fort Hunter Station, part of the Fort Hunter Mansion and Park in Susquehanna Township.
The mobile truck serves espresso drinks and pastries and is an offshoot of owner Christina Lauver’s Torina mobile pop-up business. The drive-thru is in partnership with the Dauphin County Parks & Recreation, which operates Fort Hunter.
The Fort Hunter Station was built in 1929 by the W. F. Martin family when gas stations were privately owned.
Dauphin County Commissioner Mike Pries said TO Espresso is a welcome addition to Fort Hunter Station.
“Many motorists travel down Front Street daily to go to work, school, day care, or the gym, and an ultra-convenient drive-through Italian café with fresh pastries and good, locally sourced coffee is something espresso enthusiasts are embracing,” he said.
Cleveland modernization plan
https://archive.ph/fKrXp
https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/24460050/cleveland-strategic-plan-document-narrative_v12_pages.pdf
Bibb wants City Hall to function more as a public space, where people could sit and chat, pop into the library, or find a quiet space to study.
The plan recommends new furniture in public areas at City Hall to accommodate that vision, plus a concierge-staffed welcome desk and better signage. It even suggests spaces in or around City Hall for “unofficial business,” such as a coffee shop or restaurant.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ceo-major-co-working-company-153422036.html
The CEO of a major co-working company says bosses need to create a ‘third place’ for employees if they want a meaningful office culture
“There’s an element that people are looking for, which is also a third place in the office,” Rowe told Fortune.
A term popularized by sociologist Ray Oldenburg, a “third place” is typically a public gathering spot like a coffee shop and bar; home is the “first place” and the workplace is the second. The idea of third places as potential work environments became popular as the pandemic dragged on, when desk workers searched for a middle ground between being cooped up at home all day, and returning to offices that no longer felt relevant.
But Rowe says that managers shouldn’t just think about holding a happy hour at a local pub— they need to create a third place within the office itself, as a way of making the workplace meaningful again. Rowe had found that hosting events and gatherings—around 1,000 a year across different offices—brings different teams of workers together, and allows them to share ideas with people they otherwise might not have met. A recent gathering brought out a few hundred people, and consisted of several breakout discussions on solar power, along with general mingling and an open bar.
Collaboration took a hit with the rise of remote work, and in a hybrid world it often doesn’t happen naturally. Bringing social events to the workplace, he says, is a way to change that. That could include a panel discussion accompanied by an open bar, catered lunches while someone presents on a topic not directly related to work, or bringing in guest speakers for conversations where employees can also mingle, Rowe says. It’s about putting productivity on the back burner, if only just for a moment.
“There’s this opportunity for something that’s a little more connected and a little more inspiring. These are some of the elements companies are reaching for in what we’d call creating community or creating culture,” Rowe says.
Roughly 90% of employees want some kind of in-person office experience, according to research from CIC, conducted by Harvard Business Review Analytic Services. They want the social, collaborative, community elements the office has been known to foster. And leaders clearly want people in the office. Research suggests in-person collaboration delivers better innovation results, and top behavioral researcher Ben Waber previously told Fortune that bosses should “view physical offices as a management tool.” When it comes to creating that third place within an office, Rowe argues it’s important for innovation, and also serves as rewarding “carrot,” as opposed to a punishing office mandate.
Last year, the insurance giant Allstate redesigned its 15 global offices, which the company calls “pods,” outfitting them with a quiet space for heads down work, an open collaborative space for events, and cafe spaces where workers could connect socially and host events—a type of third place within an office.
“Just like you would walk into a cafe sitting out on the street, we're trying to create that environment,” Allstate chief human resource officer Bob Toohey tells Fortune.
He says the company thinks about its offices as a place where employee communities gather for any number of reasons, not simply work. “We want to create a flexible environment, we want to create an environment where people come to be social, collaborate, share ideas, and do purposeful work,” he says.
https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/2024/03/07/wisconsins-classic-fish-fry-has-ast-sebastian-parish-fish-fry-draws-hundreds-for-community-tradition/72718493007/
Church fish fries are a feast, a reunion, a tradition. Here's how one team of volunteers pulls it off.
The fish fry on March 1 was always going to be a big deal. It was St. Seb’s only sit-down dinner of Lent, the 40-day period before Easter in which Catholics refrain from meat on Fridays. The church serves dine-in and carryout meals the first Friday of each month, October through May. The exception is Lent, when there is carryout each week.
Krier, a retired electronic technician for GE HealthCare, has worked more than 250 fish fries over more than two decades. Some in his crew of volunteers have been there longer. The success of the production — turning a school cafeteria into a restaurant, producing hundreds of meals, wrangling about 50 adult volunteers and 30 kid servers — relies on Krier and people like him.
The St. Seb's crew is part of a network of unsung heroes that make church fish fries a staple across the state. They raise money for their churches while nurturing a sense of community.
The fish fry is “like coming home,” says Maria Watson, parish development director at St. Sebastian.
Drawn by the appeal of an easy meatless meal for the family, or the warmth and camaraderie that comes with shared tables, or the desire for deep-fried cod on Fridays that seems to pass down generations, there is something about a classic church fish fry that has enduring appeal.
Dedicated volunteers are the secret to fish fry's longevity
Diners feel like they're showing up at a reunion
What’s drawing all these people, Wojtal says, is that a church fish fry isn’t just a meal.
“You’re part of the neighborhood here; you’re not at a business,” she says. “It’s more of a social gathering than if I were to go out with my family to a restaurant.”
Laura and Greg Marshall and their four daughters, ages 10 to 18, trekked from Mequon to Washington Heights after reading about St. Seb's in Milwaukee Magazine. The Marshall parents grew up going to fish fries and wanted to share the experience with their girls.
“It’s like showing up at a family reunion where you don’t know anybody but you’re still welcome,” Greg says.
Bring back corner stores to create a connected, equitable city
https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/bring-back-corner-stores-to-create-a-connected-equitable-city/
6/25/21
I used to live in Ravenna in a fourplex that looked like a large single-family house. I could walk to what was then Boulevard Grocery and buy lunch. In this small one-story gabled market, originally a garage then converted into a grocery in the 1920s, I chatted with neighbors, learned about my neighborhood and bought sundries. One time we ran out of toilet paper, and I discovered this a little too late. My now-wife ran down to the grocery and picked up a roll to save the day. When we moved, we looked for a house that was close to a commercial hub so we could still walk to shops. This really limited our options because of the current zoning rules.
Let’s allow corner stores back into our neighborhoods. If you are concerned about this prospect, help to shape how we let them return. Let’s keep things human-scaled with local businesses and small structures that will nestle into our neighborhoods, just like the examples we already know. We can decide what uses to allow. Coffee? Yes. Grocery? Yes. Cellphone store? Hmm, I don’t think so. Kid’s art classes? Yes. Beer and wine on a patio with unamplified music? How about only before 8 p.m.? We can make rules about when deliveries are allowed to happen and where to keep trash. There’s much to discuss.
The way we allow corner stores back into our neighborhoods is by amending the land-use code, which requires a vote by the Seattle City Council. Reach out to our council members and tell them you want to bring back corner stores to create a connected, walkable, safe city that replaces old segregationist rules with a vision for a city that will be ready when you need that roll of toilet paper!
azelwood Cafe brings coffee and community to the neighborhood
https://www.post-gazette.com/life/food/2024/03/12/hazelwood-cafe-pittsburgh-coffee-shop-sba-microloan-barista-black-entrepreneurs/stories/202403050063
In 2022, the Hazelwood native opened Hazelwood Cafe, offering coffee and other specialty drinks with a mission to bring local, quality goods to the neighborhood while providing a space for the community he grew up in to gather.
“It's just setting a community standard for how we all work together,” Gray said. “Also, there's not a lot of Black people in the coffee industry. That's another challenge I wanted to overcome.”
A year earlier, in 2021, Gray came upon a building on the corner of Second Avenue in Hazelwood that was listed for rent. To secure the space and launch his business, he applied for a Small Business Administration microloan through Bridgeway Capital, one of seven partner institutions working with the SBA in Western Pennsylvania.
Businesses can receive loans up to $50,000, “and with those loans comes free technical assistance from the intermediary that you're borrowing from,” said Kelly Hunt, SBA district director. “So they're a great tool, especially for startups.”
Gray has built relationships with neighboring businesses, including La Gourmandine, a French bakery, and Hazel Grove Brewing, collaborating on a beer.
“Their customers come over and have coffee while they eat their pastries,” he said. “When new businesses come out to Hazelwood, they reach out to us. So I think Hazelwood Cafe is setting the business standard of the neighborhood.”
When creating his business plan, Gray wanted to make sure the shop could support the neighborhood the way he was supported growing up here.
“We donate to charities for Christmas and Easter and we have different events throughout the year,” he continued. “The last event was beans to purchase for Steel City Smiling, which works to support Black mental health training.”
Third places’ for bookish types, from theology to late night goth
https://sanantonioreport.org/third-places-san-antonio-reading-spaces-goth-theology/
3/17/24
'We're going to miss them terribly': Mom-and-pop Forest Park grocery store closing after decades in business
https://www.audacy.com/wbbm780/news/local/eds-way-grocery-store-in-forest-park-closing-soon
Ed's Way, a corner, neighborhood, family-owned grocery store in west suburban Forest Park, is closing after decades in business.
“We’ve been here for 33 years, and we’re coming to the end,” said Ed Nutley, the Ed behind Ed’s Way.
The store has been a neighborhood staple in Forest Park. Before the Nutley family, the store had other owners for several decades, so really, it has been around seemingly forever. But, now, the shelves are being cleared, and it’s time to say goodbye.
“Number one, the overhead has gotten too much, the volume, [we] couldn’t take care of it. And, beside that, we’re going to retire,” said Nutley.
Mike Nutley, one of the store's co-owners, said it’s not easy for neighborhood places to compete with corporate America.
“In the small business world, it just seems like you’re constantly crippled, Mike said. “Higher real estate taxes, the cost of products and fees, delivery charges, and it just keeps tacking on, eating away at your profits.”
Karen added that Ed's was truly a dying breed, a neighborhood place.
“[It’s] more than just shopping here. It’s conversation, like, ‘I know you have a dog’ or ‘I know this guy is getting married…’ It’s not just, ‘thank you, have a nice day,’” Karen said.
Many longtime customers have been flocking to Ed's Way in recent weeks to say "thank you" and pick up a few final items.
Ed's Way will be closed by the end of the month and replaced by townhomes.
"A lot of us have depended on Ed's, and Ed is a very kind and generous person, as is the rest of his family, and we're going to miss them terribly," said loyal customer Debra Holdstein.
Wisconsin's oldest Methodist congregation closes due to high bills, low turnout. It's a familiar story nationwide.
https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/2023/07/11/milwaukees-summerfield-united-methodist-church-closes-amid-high-bills/70361234007/
Researchers estimate that before the COVID pandemic, 75 to 100 houses of worship closed each week in the U.S., facing the same headwinds as Summerfield: aging and dwindling congregations saddled with insurmountable upkeep costs.
Churches that are thriving today tend to offer modern services and programming.
Summerfield, the oldest Methodist congregation in Wisconsin, had shrunk to only 11 members, none under 65 years old. The historic building at North Cass Street and East Juneau Avenue, constructed in 1904 as the successor to Summerfield’s first church, needed extensive repairs.
Summerfield's neighborhood is saturated with churches, a legacy of America’s more churchgoing past.
Today, many churches around the country are facing the same challenges. Experts project that 100,000 church properties could be sold across the U.S. in the next several years.
Mark Elsdon is the executive director of Pres House, a Presbyterian campus ministry at UW-Madison, and an expert on church properties.
When churches fold and a developer buys the land, the social good the church was providing — meals for the homeless, for instance – is gone for good, Elsdon said.
Churches also offer a space for community gatherings that, say, the high-end apartments that take their place can’t. Girl Scout troops, neighborhood associations, Alcoholics Anonymous groups and more often meet in churches for free or a small fee, he said.
“Where is that all going to meet?” he said. “You can’t have an AA in a Starbucks.”
Elsdon is struck by the scale of church closures.
“You just look at a map of where all these churches are (in Milwaukee), and you imagine, 10 years from now, 20 years from now, a third to a half of them are something else. What does that do to those neighborhoods?” Elsdon said.
With his organization, Rooted Good, Elsdon works with church leaders to figure out how to repurpose buildings — before it’s too late — in a way that aligns with their mission. Elsdon has seen church properties converted to affordable housing, a kitchen for marginalized youth, a business center to support entrepreneurs, a childcare co-op for Latina teen mothers and more.
“We need to adapt to what it means to be a faith community today,” he said.
Summerfield is a prime example of a church whose closure leaves a hole in the neighborhood.
In recent years, Summerfield’s small, devoted cohort of volunteers made an outsized impact. The meal program regularly served hot meals to about 50 to 100 people four times a week before the pandemic. In the last couple years, 30 to 40 received meals three days a week.
The basement hall was open daily as a warming center in winter and a cooling center in the summer. Members had showers installed and ran a clothing donation operation, giving hats, coats and gloves to people in need.
And Sarsfield traveled weekly to an Oconomowoc distributor of Brownberry bread to pick up about 300 loaves of bread, bagels and English muffins that the church set outside the building for people to take.
Most nights, Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous groups met in the church basement.
Marcia Tremaine, who along with Sarsfield volunteered at the church every day, joined about a decade ago after moving back to the Midwest from the Washington, D.C., area.
“I came here because they were doing something,” Tremaine said. “So many other churches say, 'Let’s pray about these people.'”
https://www.rootedgood.org/
https://www.ft.com/content/947d6ec7-5648-4e1a-98df-2c7b902ad502
Three cheers for the pub
Traditional drinking holes are becoming scarcer as big chains move in, but the best of them connect you with a sense of history and community
Café terraces are a way of life for Parisians
https://www.msn.com/en-ae/travel/news/caf%C3%A9-terraces-are-a-way-of-life-for-parisians
n Paris, café terraces are sacred. As a go-to place for socializing and a proud part of the city's heritage, these bistro and café exteriors are an essential experience for anyone seeking a taste of Parisian life. A recent study has measured the depth of Parisians' attachment to this quintessential part of their city's culture.
Half of Parisians visit the city's café terraces at least once a week.
https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/music/ballards-conor-byrne-pub-may-be-revived-as-a-cooperatively-owned-venue/
Seattle's Conor Byrne Pub could reopen this spring
4/2/24
Dukich — Conor Byrne’s operating manager — Sodomka and Maria Rocco are spearheading a group of employees and supporters pushing to reopen Conor Byrne as a cooperatively run venue, continuing the legacy of the space that’s been a bar and live music room for more than 100 years, previously as the Owl Saloon.
The group has quietly launched a fundraising campaign seeking $40,000 in startup costs by May 1 to reinvent Conor Byrne as a co-op, inspired by Greenwood’s Flying Bike Cooperative Brewery. In the coming days, they hope to open presales for member-owners, allowing patrons to buy into the venue for a $300 membership fee. Pivoting Conor Byrne into a community-owned third place and giving members a say in how the venue is run appealed to the leadership group, which is determined to keep the community that’s formed around the Ballard institution intact.
“It became this idea of empowering our community to have a voice, to give them an option and have a say in what they want their city to look and feel like instead of hoping that another important place to them kind of gets lost in the cracks and it’s gone,” Dukich said. “Because it’s so hard to recreate. You can’t recreate history.”
In addition to the $40,000 fundraiser and forthcoming membership drive, organizers are also recruiting additional seed investors. If all goes according to plan, Conor Byrne Cooperative could open in May or June. They’re banking on getting to 150-200 members within the first six to eight months and an uptick in patronage to help sustain the operation after getting the doors back open. It doesn’t hurt that their landlords, who run Heliotrope Architects in the same building, are on board — something that’s hardly a given in rent-raising Seattle.
Word that the previous owners, citing a changing industry and downturn in attendance, would be closing the Byrne last month prompted an outpouring of support across the Seattle music community. The small-room venue has been an important incubator for emerging talent, offering a welcoming stage to artists (especially singer-songwriters) honing their craft and building an audience. Most famously, Seattle folk-rock titans The Head and the Heart formed around Conor Byrne’s open mic nights. Opening up memberships to friends and fans gives the community a tangible means of supporting the venue beyond showing up and buying drinks, which have been challenges for music venues coming out of the pandemic.
“Being able to give this option to people to show their love back instead of them standing back and hoping that [Conor Byrne] doesn’t go away feels empowering,” Dukich said.
Conor Byrne Cooperative leaders having been working with their fiscal sponsor, Olympia’s Northwest Cooperative Development Center, and lawyers to establish the cooperative and solidify its bylaws for members, who will receive annual dividends the same way REI members might after stocking up on camping gear.
https://montanafreepress.org/2024/04/02/kirks-grocery-a-reflection-of-billings-messy-creative-side/
Kirks’ Grocery a reflection of Billings’ messy creative side
Art center on Billings’ South Side brings community together to share and explore.
Entering Kirks’ Grocery, a sense of discovery, of messy creative energy, of high art and low culture, unfurls across the space.
Located on the South Side of Billings, just across the tracks from downtown, Kirks’ Grocery feels connected to the underground scene, the anti-hero hero, the place where everyone wants to hang.
The storefront area shows art from local, regional and international artists, depending on the calendar: sculptures made from wigs, embroidered stitching on found photographs, along with paintings that smash Western lore with modern art. Performances, including music, sound art and readings, happen in the back.
But Kirks’ is more than an art space. It’s a reflection of the community, in all the ways that community binds people together: food, visual art, music, and a place to gather, share and explore.
Artist, musician and owner of Kirks’ Grocery, Shane de Leon, opened the space in Billings five years ago.
The style of Kirks’ Grocery is what de Leon and Serbe refer to as “DIY,” which means something different to everybody but basically refers to the idea of ”if you build it they will come.” Both of them are open to all kinds of events, presentations, classes, and they open up so that kids can have a place to hang out.
Kirks’ Grocery is supported by the shows that charge admission, by a Kitchen Party that is put together by chef Ash Woodward with pay-what-you-can meals, by the sales of art, T-shirts, vinyl records, yoga classes, homeschoolers and by memberships.
“The membership program is about helping Kirks’ to function so we can be generous to the artists and musicians,” de Leon said. “I support young musicians and young artists; a place like Kirks’ provides a home for them. The sales of established artists support the younger artists. We’re really proud of being a community art center, not just an art gallery.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/03/fashion/travel-luxury-travel-meet-locals.html
In our book “Re-Engineering Humanity,” Brett Frischmann and I argue for the importance of carving out spaces of refuge from the constant surveillance, manipulation, and exploitation that characterize our online lives. We contend that having access to such spaces is crucial for our well-being and for maintaining our autonomy. The hotel is a compelling real-world example of the kind of refuge we advocate for. And crucially, its affordability makes it accessible to a broad range of people, not just a privileged few. Unplugging and recharging should not be reserved solely for those who can afford luxury digital detox experiences. The democratic ideal of making such experiences widely available is something Walter Benjamin would surely appreciate.
Evan Selinger is a professor of philosophy at the Rochester Institute of Technology and a frequent contributor to Globe Ideas.
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