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The Great Good Place: Cafes, Coffee Shops, Bookstores, Bars, Hair Salons, and Other Hangouts at the Heart of a Community

Ray Oldenburg

3.84 · Rating details · 690 ratings · 89 reviews

The landmark survey that celebrates all the places where people hang out--and is helping to spawn their revival

A New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice

"Third places," or "great good places," are the many public places where people can gather, put aside the concerns of home and work (their first and second places), and hang out simply for the pleasures of good compa ...more

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Paperback, 384 pages

Published August 18th 1999 by Da Capo Press (first published July 1st 1989)

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Feb 06, 2012 Farrah rated it it was ok

Parts were very thought provoking and informative, but it was too focused and biased toward the third places of men. Even when women and children were present in a third place, they were discussed in terms of how the affected the activity and community of men. Much more of the book should have addressed the third places of women in history and recommendations for how to create new third places for everyone. Third places of the past will not meet the needs and physical environment of today and th ...more

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Jan 25, 2013 Johnny rated it really liked it

Shelves: sociology

If one spends most of one’s time at home (even if asleep a good deal of that time) and the second biggest block of time at work, that means home is your first place and work is your second place. What then, is your third place? The third place is the social venue where one has informal interaction with a group of regulars and potential newcomers such that one experiences novelty, perspective, spiritual uplift, and friends by the set (as opposed to befriending individuals). It is an enriching cro ...more

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Feb 27, 2018 Russell Lay rated it really liked it · review of another edition

If you're like me, raised in the suburbs but strangely attracted to cities and newer suburbs, the opposite of the places where planning departments, homeowners associations, and elected officials have created disjointed subdivisions that lack the vitality of newly revitalized urban areas, read this book.

When I visit places like Richmond, Raleigh, Tampa and I see people who live in the same places they work, shopping, walking, visiting small bistros, taverns, wine bars, tiny parks, local barber s ...more

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Nov 03, 2007 Miranda Rosbach rated it liked it

Read this in Library School and really enjoyed it. Now I need to read Bowling Alone. ...more

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Mar 26, 2018 Lesley Looper rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, 2018

I think I first became familiar with the phrase "third place" in relation to libraries when I was in grad school for library science, and I've been interested by the concept ever since. A lot of television series have portrayed the "third place" well ("Cheers" is a good example). I enjoyed reading about how events in history, as well as urban development and other things, have affected the third place, and what the consequences have been. I've been intrigued by some new apartment developments in ...more

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Sep 01, 2017 Jeff Elliott rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Definitely too long. This book had been on my list for several years and it took what felt like several years to finish it. I don't disagree with his conclusions but it could have been said much more concisely. My concise version: "Community is necessary and necessitates a place for it to happen."

Thank you! Proceeds may be sent to me at this account... ...more

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Apr 29, 2010 Nick Klagge rated it it was ok

After Elise read this book and liked it, I had high expectations. I had just finished reading "Bowling Alone" and was excited to continue reading on the topic of community (see also "Little Chapel On The River"). Ultimately, though, I felt pretty disappointed in this book. In contrast to Robert Putnam, Oldenburg makes very little effort to incorporate academic research into his book. He may well be a highly skilled sociologist, but his totally casual style ends up making him seem more fly-by-nig ...more

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Nov 12, 2017 Art rated it really liked it

Shelves: sociology, cities, read-in-2017, history, london, paris

“The third place” as a term began in this book, almost thirty years ago. Ray Oldenburg wanted to make the case for the informed public life, which, in the late eighties, he found in cafés, bookshops, diners and similar places. But he also found these places disappearing as suburbs of that period drained some cities of the people who populated these spots. And that’s what inspired this book. After home and work, third places now make a resurgence in older cities with active walkable neighborhoods “The third place” as a term began in this book, almost thirty years ago. Ray Oldenburg wanted to make the case for the informed public life, which, in the late eighties, he found in cafés, bookshops, diners and similar places. But he also found these places disappearing as suburbs of that period drained some cities of the people who populated these spots. And that’s what inspired this book. After home and work, third places now make a resurgence in older cities with active walkable neighborhoods.

Social media and their influence arrived long after this book published, so his thoughts feel dated in many sections. Oldenburg, nonetheless, offers a deep history into “the happy gathering places” that we think of as the homes away from home. The stranger feels at home in these informal public gathering places. Think of Paris with its sidewalk cafés, London pubs, Florence piazzas.

Third places everywhere share common but essential features, writes Oldenburg. They are on neutral ground and they function as a leveler of people from different strata. Conversation is the main activity.

The rules for conversation, which seem quaint today, included these: stay quiet during your share of the time, then speak in as low a voice that will allow others to hear you. Bores talk louder, writes Oldenburg.

But these days, the abrasive background music of many cafés with hard walls means finding a quiet table away from the main room. And, if you want to read a book, pack earplugs to filter the noise.

The regulars set the mood and manner that give a place its style of interaction, Oldenburg writes. Every regular began as a newcomer. Regulars of third places come as they are.

Today’s informal gathering spots enjoy a long tradition.

French bistros and sidewalk cafés emerged five hundred years ago, about the time of the first coffeehouses in Saudi Arabia. Bistros became favored places for writing books and letters. Londoners imported the habit and dropped in to their coffeehouses several times a day for the news, before newspapers and daily mail. The democratic atmosphere of the coffeehouse contrasted with the drunks at inns and taverns.

Milwaukee Germans almost two hundred years ago, the author explains, fashioned a collective life in the city. Beer gardens welcomed everyone. From there, bands, reading clubs and other organizations emerged. German immigrants understood the importance of informal public gathering places. In Milwaukee, by the eighteen-sixties, its best taverns offered good beer, music, conversation and food, often free.

Because the concept of the third place intrigued me for years, this book lived on my to-read shelf for a long time. Although anchored in the eighties, it was a worthwhile read. The book needed a good editor. But, by now, the topic needs a new book, using this as the beginning. Three and a half stars. ...more

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Dec 10, 2020 Tyler rated it it was ok

The thesis of this book is wonderful but Oldenburg loses himself in nostalgia and a meandering story. The examples feel contrived and all of history is viewed from the perspective of men. Grateful for the thesis on the importance of third places and community. But the rest of the book is outdated and repetitive.

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Jun 25, 2012 Stephen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: communities, civic-awareness, social-criticism, food-and-drink, history, extraordinary

In Our Oriental Heritage, Will Durant wrote that man is not willingly a political animal, that we do not love society so much as we fear solitude. As much as I love Durant's work -- the grandness of his historical approach and the rich eloquence of the language with which he expressed it -- here I must disagree with him. We are social creatures at our roots: to borrow from Augustine, we are made for each other, and our hearts are restless until we find companionship together. Such is the lesson In Our Oriental Heritage, Will Durant wrote that man is not willingly a political animal, that we do not love society so much as we fear solitude. As much as I love Durant's work -- the grandness of his historical approach and the rich eloquence of the language with which he expressed it -- here I must disagree with him. We are social creatures at our roots: to borrow from Augustine, we are made for each other, and our hearts are restless until we find companionship together. Such is the lesson of Roy Oldenburg’s magnificent The Great Good Place, which examines the important role of social centers in human lives, discusses the consequences of their decline in the United States today, attempts to account for why they are struggling, and appeals for their resurrection. It is a timely and momentous work.

I’ve long been tangentially familiar with the phrase, “the third place”, which refers to common gathering places for people in their communities, a place apart from home and work (the first and second places in our lives). But here is that phrase’s origin. Oldenburg begins by establishing what the third place is: a site that attracts people and allows for spontaneous meetings between friends and strangers. These places have been ubiquitous in urban environments throughout human history…at least, until the late 1940s when the United States decided to try a different approach to urban planning, creating ‘sprawls that no longer deserve the the dignity of of being called a city’*. Oldenburg’s opening chapters document the third place’s vital role in creating a sense of community, in fostering political cohesion and providing a platform for civic engagement. But not only that – they’re fun. People like to spend time together, and giving them a place to do it makes society better and improves our quality of life.After establishing this, Oldenburg then moves on some specific examples: English and Austrian coffee houses, French cafes and bistros, American taverns, and main streets. (Although the cover refers to barbershops and salons as third places, the best in his view have been these "watering holes".) This is a book strongly reminiscent of Robert Putnam's Bowling Alone: the Decline and Revival of American Community, but while Putnam examined the disintegration of American public life at large, Oldenburg zooms in to everyday life.

If the third place is so important, so vital to healthy personal and national life, how have we allowed ours to be destroyed? Hindsight is always perfect vision: in this case, third places are so normal to the human experience that we take them for granted, and only their loss makes us realize their importance. While third places can be destroyed by the short-sightedness of business owners who discourage "loitering" and convert attractive sitting places into yet more display areas, ultimately the problem is foundational: America's urban landscape is atrocious; "badly staged", in Oldenburg's words. Time and again he scolds planners for creating municipalities where no one can walk anywhere, of building pod after pod of "nothing neighborhoods", of abandoning the diverse density of cities for suburbia's lifeless homogeneity.

The Great Good Place is a fascinating combination of sociology and history with a lot of insight. The loss of third places goes beyond people not having a place to have a drink together. One of the consequences Oldenburg explores is that as community life fades as an alternative, people are forced to look for solace on their own, by attempting to buy happiness in the stores -- and the more they focus on themselves, the less inclined they are to seek connections with other people and the more miserable they are. The fascinating link between alienation and advertising is one of the many gems found in here.

Books like these are why I read in the first place. This isn't a subject of mere academic interest: this is a book that tells us something important about ourselves, with ideas that can change our lives and help Americans concerned about the United States' declining health begin to recover from it. Although the absence of any mention of the internet might date it (a book like this published today would have to address social networking sites), it's never more timely. Ten years after Oldenburg published this, the New Urbanism movement took off -- and reaffirming and reestablishing community life is at the heart of it. As America's urban pattern is forced to change in recognition of suburban's fiscal failure, I hope when we begin building we keep Oldenburg's insights in mind, and build third places.

I cannot recommend this highly enough.

Related:

Bowling Alone: the Decline and Revival of American Community, Robert Putnam
Suburban Nation, Andres Duany et. al ...more

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Aug 20, 2009 Ben rated it did not like it

I liked the idea behind this book, which is what prompted me to pick it up and read it. Here we are, a month and a half later, having finished three good books in the interim, and I've finally finished it. The fist part was interesting, albiet dry and slow going. The second part was also interesting although parts of it started to lose its appeal. The final part was filled with outrageous claims that at times made me question the author's sanity.

Anyways, the opening explains the point of the boo I liked the idea behind this book, which is what prompted me to pick it up and read it. Here we are, a month and a half later, having finished three good books in the interim, and I've finally finished it. The fist part was interesting, albiet dry and slow going. The second part was also interesting although parts of it started to lose its appeal. The final part was filled with outrageous claims that at times made me question the author's sanity.

Anyways, the opening explains the point of the book. The author laments the loss of an informal public life, which had been maintained by third places (the first place being your home and the second place being your work).

The second part goes through a description of several different third places ranging from French Cafes to Main Street in small town America. Again, this part was interesting.

Finally, the author tried to draw conclusions and give the book an ending. This part really lost it. It dropped the review down a few stars. The author starts out sounding like an old man complaining about the way things were, but some of the author's claims are just insane. They make no sense. Which is frustrating because he still has one or two nuggets of information which get lost amid the sea of craziness. The simple fact is that not all of soceity's problems would be solved if everyeone went to a neighborhood bar for a beer or two every night. The author has serious problems with car-centered suburbia which I totally agree with but he makes no difference between car-centered suburubia and anything else. I live in the city. I don't even own a car. I can walk or take public transportation anywhere I go. Anyways, I'll give you just an idea of some of the author's outrageous claims. I apologize in advance for not offering all the context of each of these statements, but if I did that, this review would get too long and be a little too dry. And no context would fully explain these statements. 'Perceptive people often note the difference in their friends or acquaintances when the spouse is present and when he or she is not. They are stuck by the wondrous transformation when the spouse is not present. A husband may regard his wife, along with all other women, as 'dumb' or 'childlike.' He may be exceedingly 'touchy' and respond to everything she says with belligerence. He may level a steady stream of criticism at her in an attempt to bolster his self-esteem. Women often seem hyperconcerned about the impressions their husbands make in the company of others. They may correct their husbands, excuse or apologize for their shortcomings; they may critically monitor everything their husbands have to say. The male at middle age is noted for his passivity under this form of oppression. He doesn't try to be witty, interesting, or to enjoy himself when his wife is around.' 'Only in adolescence do males and females 'hang out' fairly well together.' 'A woman's mood in her home is enhanced by the presence of her spouse but depressed by the presence of her children.' 'In today's schools no less than earlier ones, the abiding concern is with accounting for the location of bodies and not the development of minds.' 'Eventually Americans will learn that the fast and hectic pace of urban life is not due to modernity but to bad urban planning.' There are more that I can't find at the moment, including the one drawing correlations between lack of a third place and domestic violence.

The author doesn't even mention the internet. I know this book was first published in 1989, but this edition was republished years later with an updated preface and the author makes no mention of the social benefits of the internet and how the younger generation uses it to socialize and keep in touch with friends across the country and around the world. This is an obvious ommission.

Just as I regretting picking Nickel and Dimed rather than the Working Poor. I really regret reading this instead of Bowling Alone. ...more

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Oct 17, 2008 Kelly rated it liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, read-in-2008, read-for-library-school

Part I: 4 stars.
Part II: 2.5 stars.
Part III: doesn't deserve a rating.

This book explores a great concept. When it was originally release, it certainly was pretty revolutionary thought. Now, I think we've all heard it and experienced it, so it's not too revolutionary.

But what gets me is the sexist and anti-American sentiment with which Oldenburg writes. Women are obviously the reason men's places have closed, he claims. Most disturbingly, though, is that one of his comments is that women have all Part I: 4 stars.
Part II: 2.5 stars.
Part III: doesn't deserve a rating.

This book explores a great concept. When it was originally release, it certainly was pretty revolutionary thought. Now, I think we've all heard it and experienced it, so it's not too revolutionary.

But what gets me is the sexist and anti-American sentiment with which Oldenburg writes. Women are obviously the reason men's places have closed, he claims. Most disturbingly, though, is that one of his comments is that women have all the free time in the world. Women do nothing but stay at home all day, so why should they need a third place? It's only the men who work then come home to women who are bitching at them who need a place. Men apparently need the third place to avoid beating their wives. This is a passage in the book, not my fabrication.

I guess this would bother me less if this book weren't in its third edition. Oldenburger's book first printed at a time when maybe there were less women working. But now there is no excuse. Anyone with a bit of education is aware that women, in fact, often work two shifts - the work shift and the home shift. Men, even with women in the workplace, do not contribute to the house work any more now than they did when the wives were at home all day. So, even though this is well-known, Oldenburg gives no credence.

Throughout the entire book, I was able to indicate passages of blatant sexism. It's time to revise for the times.

And does Oldenburg offer any way to amend the situations which he discusses? That would make this more powerful. Oldenburg dwells too much in disparaging America and the American landscape. Instead, he spends an entire section praising European establishments. Though this could be useful, it's shortsighted. Oldenburg doesn't take into account the fact America is young; we don't have the history and legacy upon which European cities thrive. We can't even pretend to equate that. Our cities were just build differently, and our populations grew in ways unlike any European city has seen.

Before this goes further, I'll state this much: the first part of this book is important. Read it, but stop there. ...more

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Jul 14, 2010 Rachel rated it really liked it

Shelves: brainy, museums

A colleague at work suggested this to get folks thinking about how to look at museums as a third space, how to encourage more community interaction/community building within the scope of the museum. It's an interesting concept, and one that kids are very natural at, but not so much for grownups. Think about it, when you are out in the community—coffee shop, post office, grocery store—how often to you really start up a conversation? Unless you actually bump into someone you know, probably not ver ...more

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Jan 05, 2020 Dorine Ruter rated it really liked it

Finished reading Ray Oldenburgs’s The Great Good Place, where he originally coined the term ‘Third Place’ that I use to describe part of our approach as Stichting Lokaal. Less based on research than I had hoped and expected, the book does provide many examples that are both identifiable and food for thought. With the American suburbs as distopian reference, the book reviews the old Main Street, French bistro, English pub, German biergarten (also the imported biergartens in New York, those vibran ...more

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Apr 21, 2011 Paul Signorelli rated it it was amazing

Shelves: community, sociology, collaboration

Few books have had greater influence on the way we perceive communities, community-building, and collaboration than Ray Oldenburg's "The Great Good Place." The terms he introduces have become part of our lexicon: the first place (home), the second place (work), and the third place--the great good place, which is where we meet, socialize, share ideas with, and learn from friends and acquaintances who become part of our personal and extended community. In the first part of his book, Oldenburg desc ...more

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Apr 07, 2010 Elise rated it really liked it

First place: Home
Second place: Work
Third place: Local establishments where, when you are not at your first or second places, you can hang out, run into acquaintances, socialize, gossip. Where everybody knows your name. Where you can leave your kid and know that someone will keep an eye on her. An endangered species.

Reading this book made me want to operate a third place (or a great good place). Or (perhaps the more reasonable option) at least move to a neighborhood full of great good places. At ...more

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May 24, 2012 Dave'n rated it really liked it

"Precious and unique benefits accrue to those who regularly attend third places and who value those forms of social intercourse found there. The leveling, primacy of conversation, certainty of meeting friends, looseness of structure, and eternal reign of the imp of fun all combine to set the stage for experiences unlikely to be found elsewhere...The benefits of participation both delight and sustain the individual."

"for letting one's hair down...Many a dutiful wife and mother will confess that s ...more

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Apr 11, 2014 Amar Pai rated it really liked it

This book articulates what I've always felt but been unable to express-- third places are crucial. CRUCIAL. So many places I've lived have lacked one in walking distance. There's a reason we bought our house around the corner from Farley's. ...more

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May 17, 2008 Kimmy rated it it was ok

First to profile this idea of a necessary public setting for hanging out that we have had through history but left behind in recent socio developments in America.

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Jul 16, 2020 Jill rated it it was ok

Shelves: urbanology

It's been a while since I've read an urban studies book and I was excited to finally get round to reading Ray Oldenburg's The Great Good Place, where he introduces the concept of the "third place".

Unfortunately, the book fell flat for me. At 296 pages (excluding the notes and bibliography), it felt about 196 pages too long.

In the opening chapters, Oldenburg makes a compelling case for so-called "third places" - the spaces beyond the home and workplace where members of the local community can g It's been a while since I've read an urban studies book and I was excited to finally get round to reading Ray Oldenburg's The Great Good Place, where he introduces the concept of the "third place".

Unfortunately, the book fell flat for me. At 296 pages (excluding the notes and bibliography), it felt about 196 pages too long.

In the opening chapters, Oldenburg makes a compelling case for so-called "third places" - the spaces beyond the home and workplace where members of the local community can gather informally and gradually become familiar with and comfortable with each other. As third places are inclusive, they teach us to "be at easy with everyone in the neighbourhood irrespective of how one feels about them…A third place is a 'mixer'". Beyond providing an "informal public life", third places are community assets, functioning as staging areas during local crises or providing "public characters", those who know everyone in the neighbourhood, who care about the neighbourhood and generally keep an eye on things.

In Part 1 of The Great Good Place, Oldenburg examines how changing norms in the US led to the dearth of third places. Urban planning norms is one major contributing factor - the rapid expansion of the suburbs, where one drives to different amenities, means that there is no local drugstore/café/library etc one can stroll to readily from one's home on a daily basis. That Americans were gradually receding into self sufficient nuclear family bubbles, and saw this self-sufficiency as a mark of material success was another:

"The overequipped home was mass-produced in underequipped neighbourhoods. Diversions and facilities that had previously been available only in public space and for the shared use of the citizenry came to be the objects of private consumptions and use. These included swimming pools, pool tables, picnic grills, liquor bars, the movie screen and quality musical sound and even tennis courts. Earlier, shared forms of entertainment and diversion brought people together. They were good for community but not good for the economy. The worst student of arithmetic could understand that more money would be spent in a nation where every household tries to own what a community once provided for all"

In Part 2, he dissects the various third places in different countries - the German-American lager beer gardens, American main street, the English pub, the French café, the American tavern and classic coffeehouses. Apart from the occasional interesting factoid like:

"The English date their pubs from the inns and taverns founded after the Roman and Norman occupations; the antecedents of the French bistro or sidewalk café emerged about five hundred years ago with the world's first coffeehouses in Saudi Arabia. From Mecca, they may be traced to Constantinople and eventually to Vienna, where the coffeehouse was introduced with remarkable success."

I generally found this section a little repetitive - it basically hammered home that while the third place took different forms in different cultures and fit into people's daily routines and rhythms a little differently, they generally played the same valuable roles in the community. Also, reading this some 30 years after the book was first published, this section feels quite dated.

I lost patience by the third section, which, among other things, attempted to look at gender relations through the lens of the third place. This section definitely felt dated.

Overall, I'm glad I got round to reading the original source of the term "third place" but it wasn't as satisfying a read as I thought it would be.
...more

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Jun 05, 2020 Karen Adkins rated it liked it

This book riffs on Jane Jacobs' classic study of urbanism. Oldenburg's version doesn't look broadly at what generates life in cities, but narrowly; he argues that places where people can hang out and loiter enjoyably are crucial for community well-being (both the well-being of the individuals in the community, but also the health of the community as a community). For Oldenburg, the marker of what he calls a "third space" is that it's neither strictly private (home) or the space of work, and cruc This book riffs on Jane Jacobs' classic study of urbanism. Oldenburg's version doesn't look broadly at what generates life in cities, but narrowly; he argues that places where people can hang out and loiter enjoyably are crucial for community well-being (both the well-being of the individuals in the community, but also the health of the community as a community). For Oldenburg, the marker of what he calls a "third space" is that it's neither strictly private (home) or the space of work, and crucially, that people can be both idle and entertaining there (so utilitarian spaces like grocery stores and sidewalks do not automatically count). His big targets here are suburbs and TVs; he thinks that the way we design communities now incentivizes people to spend free time in their house, passively watching TV or drinking privately, and that this weakens community strength. I do not disagree with his major conclusion (and indeed, think that some of the weakness of the neo-urbanist movement in at least some of its formulations is that it pays only shallow attention to community space). While he's strongest and really persuasive when he's clearly internalizing his Jacobs and talking about the dynamics of interaction--some of his closely-observed riffs on dynamics really hit home--I found myself put off by some of the weaknesses in the book. Most crucially for me, his love of his third-place idea means that he ignores the crucial difference between non-commercial and commercial third spaces. A public park doesn't require people to buy anything, so the kind of idle enjoyment there is categorically different than what one finds in coffee houses, bars, bookstores, and every other place listed in his title. But almost as problematic for me was the utter absence of any meaningful consideration of racism and segregation. Oldenburg champions third places because they promote 'diversity' in thinking; and yet, his catalog of what we see in his survey of third places is actually relentlessly white (his examples make this clear, but if you don't have time for this just look at the photos in the middle of the book). The book first came out in 1989 and he's updated it since (I was reading one of the updated editions), so it's not like he can claim that he's unaware that racial segregation is a key issue in this country. It just makes his claims about broadening our worldview by going to bars and coffee houses seem painfully ironic. ...more

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Oct 01, 2017 Jackie rated it liked it

Oldenburg's Third Place concept is frequently referenced in my specific field of student unions, so I wanted to read the source material. Casually, I know the idea as being separate from your home and work, as a place you can go to be yourself and relax. This is something student unions strive to be for students and others in the community.

I'm glad I read the book, but it definitely feels dated (e.g., blaming TV for people's lack of connection in free time to community, mentioned prevalence of b ...more

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Aug 03, 2020 Dominic Lenzo rated it really liked it

I would recommend skimming the first 200 pages and deep reading the last 100. This book was difficult to get through for the first 2/3 since it covered “third places” around the world and the writing felt pretentious. How many different ways can one talk about cafes, taverns and Main Street? Apparently a lot. Some sentences in the early stages were so complex that it took me multiple reads to understand. I think the part 1 topic could’ve been covered in half as many pages. The last section of th ...more

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Feb 16, 2021 Theresa Jehlik rated it liked it

Shelves: politics, american-culture, economics

I only gave this three stars because the author, a university professor, couldn't find the right balance between an academic treatise and popular nonfiction for the lay reader. His analysis of "third places" historically include English pubs, French bistros, American taverns (the local neighborhood "dive" variety, the American small town Main Streets, German beer gardens, and Viennese coffee shops. When homes were much smaller and a lot less lavishly decked out, these places provide a gathering ...more

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Dec 05, 2019 Alana rated it it was ok

The main argument of this book - that human beings need physical spaces that are easily accessible and conducive to chance social encounters, and that we should fight their disappearance - remains resonant and still very current. But many of the supporting arguments feel outdated. Not just because this book predates the internet, but outdated in its assumption that the author’s heteronormative white male experience is entirely universal. He articulately argues that women should have more space t ...more

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Aug 16, 2018 Mike rated it liked it

The central concept of the third place is well-articulated and agreeable. Oldenburg outlines what it is and why it is important. I wish he would've stopped after the first section because all of that is cogent and relevant to scholars and regular readers alike. However, the second and third parts contain plenty of objectionable claims that lack support, broad generalizations, a tenor of expertise for places the author seems to have visited once or only heard about, and a writing style that is ve ...more

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Jan 25, 2021 Julia Harr rated it it was ok

The good: Ray lends his world view to the plague of loneliness and isolation by way of dissolution of places people can go to find easy access to others to have repeated, positive exposures. It’s harder to have casual run ins with people now than ever and we should explore any reason that may be. He correctly points out how zoning and car culture have negatively impacted community.

The bad: Ray presents us exactly what he sees from where he sits and where he sits alone. I am a female social work ...more

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Sep 14, 2017 Rusty rated it it was amazing

The Third Place is a place of comfort that one finds when away from home or work. The author examines the importance of third places in American society. In the past, these places were a part of neighborhoods and accessible by a short walk. The author laments not only the disappearance of third places but also the emphasis upon reaching places only by automobile.

This was a fascinating read. Because it was published in 2000, it is a bit dated, and I would like to see the author revise his work t ...more

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Jan 16, 2019 Isabel rated it liked it

"The environment in which we live out our lives is not a cafeteria containing an endless variety of passively arrayed settings and experiences. It is an active, dictatorial force that adds experiences or subtracts them according to the way it has been shaped. When Americans begin to grasp that lesson, the path to the planners' offices will be more heavily trod than that to the psychiatrists' couches." (296)

Long slog through the middle, but it picked up at the end. Point (quoted above) well made. ...more

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Mar 16, 2019 Katie rated it did not like it

“The Great Good Place (for American Men)” is a more appropriate title.

I still recommend anyone interested in culture of community read this book, and I give the first 2/3 of the book four-ish stars.

Unfortunately, even in the 1999 third edition, the author chooses to keep the sexist interpretations of women and third places in Part 3.

My hope is the author is more enlightened today than he was 20 years ago. The message received from this book is that communities need to revitalize third places for ...more

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About Ray Oldenburg

Ray Oldenburg

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Books by Ray Oldenburg

Celebrating the Third Place: Inspiring Stories About the Great Good Places at the Heart of Our Communities

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“The course of urban development in America is pushing the individual toward that line seperating proud independence from pitiable isolation.” — 4 likes

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