Why Our Third Places are Vanishing| ft.

#urbanplanning #urbandevelopment #americancity
Humans thrive in communal environments. Social spaces allow us to gather in groups and support us feeling connected to one another. Today, it seems like we have less and less of these spaces. Why is that and how did we get here?
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0:00- Who Cares?
0:47- The Elements of Good Social Spaces
2:44- Why are They Vanishing?
6:05- Where Can We Go?
9:26- Can Everyone Go There?
12:43- What's it Gonna Cost?
13:52- Bonus: Is Nature a Social Space?
14:45- The Truth Behind it All
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📑 Sources Used for this Video:
Impact of Elderly Integration in Community
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
Roots of loitering
www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-lib...
1351 Statutes of Labor
avalon.law.yale.edu/medieval/....
Victor Gruen & the Shopping Mall
www.jstor.org/stable/2169635?...
Project for Public Spaces
www.pps.org/about
Yes Loitering Project
www.theyesloiteringproject.com/
US Census Data:
www.census.gov/content/dam/Ce...
Canadian Demographic Research
www.elections.ca/content.aspx...)
Great Good Place
Oldenburg, R. (1999). The great good place : cafés, coffee shops, bookstores, bars, hair salons, and other hangouts at the heart of a community. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press.
Ray Oldenburg Interview
Polikhun, Masha, director. Ray Oldenburg, Author of «The Great Good Place». KZbin, KZbin, 9 Mar. 2013, • Ray Oldenburg, author ... . Accessed 15 Dec. 2023.
Victor Gruen Audio File
Guyjohn59, director. Victor Gruen on Architecture. KZbin, KZbin, 9 Mar. 2015, • Victor Gruen on archit... . Accessed 15 Dec. 2023.

[@obviouslymatt6452]

How on earth does this have 140 views right now? Incredibly high quality video, I’d expect at least a thousand times that.

[@studio.leonardo]

Thank you so much! I’m always happy to engage with everyone who does choose to watch. And thankful that you even thought to do so ❤ looking forward to seeing you around in the future!

[@lydiaschaffer659]

Ikr same it's such a good video

[@jnels2007]

9 days later and it hasn’t hit 500 😢

[@ericwright8592]

One thing that I'd love to learn more about is why there is no public realm anymore in the US. As in, the physical spaces. No Plazas, squares, large pedestrian avenues. Things like this exist but they're often part of a large outdoor mall or shopping center which is designed and operated by a private entity/corporation. Every new "town center" project is just an inside-out shopping mall run by a private company, often with tons of no loitering signs, or "customers only". We need smaller, piecemeal, organic spaces, not private mega projects.

[@ehoops31]

I think it's tied to our housing crisis. People don't have a place to live, so they sleep in our third places. Unfortunately, many people believe that the third places are why they have to see homeless people. So, rather than working toward more housing, many work toward fewer third places. A small, but noticeable, example of this in my city are bus stop benches with arms in the middle so people can't lay on them.

[@flurfdesign]

Once you actually experience the magic of a true third place, you never want to go back. I've met so many of my good friends simply because I hung out in the right spots. For most of my life though, I've only experienced the opposite: the only way to meet people is to make dedicated plans and after a while it gets very exhausting.

[@studio.leonardo]

So well said!

[@TheJamieRamone]

I'm a simple guy. I see a new Studio Leonardo video is up, I watch. 😁

[@christao408]

Very well articulated. I hope more and more North Americans recognize the need to rethink how we organize our spaces.

[@DaJackCracker]

"I'm sure you can think of a third space that defined your childhood" Nope. The closest thing I've ever had was the bar my mom worked at. No kids, just the staff setting things up during the day while i messed around on the stage or in the office.

[@reckonerwheel5336]

I think nature is hard to categorize other than under "seasonal third place". I'm from an area of Canada where the climate year-round gives you - 30 C dry cloudless days, snow-assaulting-your-face mild days, to rain, to humid 25 C to windless 35 C. The city I live in offers a lot of outdoor spaces you can access for free, however, it's a small group of people who are hardy and patient enough to be hanging out in them through all seasons. And in winter, people don't sit around, chatting in snowsuits -- they're walking; it's exercise. It's the spring/early fall where the parks and trails feel like third places.

[@studio.leonardo]

Interesting take! Thanks for sharing, temps are definitely a big factor in deciding how much time to spend in nature 😂

[@eskualerritar]

And then you have the west Edmonton mall! Would that be a third place?

[@FlyingOverTr0ut]

Woa! I lit up when I saw flurfdesign in the title! I've been watching you and him for a while now and am glad to see both your messages spread to larger audiences. The older I get and the more benefit I see from having a community here in LA, the more I regret that we barely have community spaces. We have a few retail spaces that I consider more like small Disney World's for expensive shopping, but not much in spaces where you don't have to spend money to be around people.

[@studio.leonardo]

So glad you enjoyed the collab! Flurf is a great guy. Hopefully as more of us come together we can start to see third places come back into our communities

[@kirkginoabolafia3650]

Still angry about the fact that my local mall implemented a rule that bans teenagers from entering the mall without an adult present. Being an American teenager right now is essentially years-long house arrest and it's infuriating.

[@gambit_toys6554]

Great video! We NEED MORE public social spaces in USA!

[@Jer_Schmidt]

I wonder if a true third place can exist in a city that isn’t addressing its homeless crisis? In places like Seattle, I suspect business owners are scared to allow people to hang out without paying, because that would attract unhoused Seattleites, which could drive away the paying customers. When your city is inhospitable to one group of people, it becomes inhospitable to all.

[@studio.leonardo]

Well said, that is a great point to bring up. I wonder what we could do to make that accessibility issue less divisive? I find place that only offer drinks and allow you to bring outside food is a nice way to break that barrier a bit. Thoughts?

[@Jer_Schmidt]

@@studio.leonardo That sounds like a good solution. Tbh I don’t have a third place, and a lot of places are not autism-friendly (that’s a whole other issue), so I don’t have examples of how to do it right. Of course the true solution is: house the people. Help those who are struggling, and this issue vanishes. Anything else is a bandaid imo.

[@user-gu9yq5sj7c]

Why shouldn't some homeless people enjoy third places? Why should they all be vilified? Autistic and asocial people are welcome. You don't need to social in crowds. There's other things to enjoy.

[@Jer_Schmidt]

@@user-gu9yq5sj7c​​⁠ In my opinion, they should be. But Seattle business owners will disagree. You’d have to take that up with them. About autistic people… I’m autistic and have never found a third place where I feel comfortable/welcome. On paper I’m welcome, but the environment & expectations say otherwise. So that’s still an area that needs a lot of work IMO

[@studio.leonardo]

This is a really interesting discussion, thanks for keeping it cordial and sharing your POVs. Im curious what you both would feel would be more inviting infrastructure for each of those two groups of people?

[@Bismvth]

I'd love to add to the accessibility argument. More than just age, it's also disability, immigration status, low-income, and usually an intersection of more than one of these things, that can disqualify someone from driving. As you'll hear from many cycling enthusiasts, it's not a choice they think of in terms of climate activism, or fitness--it's just a significantly better deal for many people, to travel unburdened by gas, maintainance, insurance, taxes, and the long term psycho/biological stress of driving everywhere. Especially in Canada and parts of the US, experiencing rapid population growth due to immigration, we need to really think about equity and community resilience as they correlate with the built environment. It's unfair to expect recent arrivals to just assimilate into our capitalist urban economies--their needs, perspectives, and desires are just as valid as ours.

[@studio.leonardo]

So well said! Thanks for adding your two cents!

[@UrbanistBlooms]

More urbanism content! The auto industry has destroyed our urban fabric so much.

[@MrStrickland90]

This is video is really well done - I would have expected it to have a lot more views

[@gytan2221]

The No Loitering laws in America blows my mind! What’s wrong with just sitting there and socialising?

[@benallen2854]

Flurf and Leonardo! I discovered both of you independently, and I’m so happy you’re contributing to this topic together. Keep going!

[@gumerzambrano]

How was this recommended to me but only has 400 views?? This needs way more! Thanks for covering this interesting topic Kids and teens are so car dependent and results in just staying home on their phones instead of out and about

[@studio.leonardo]

Thanks for the love and support! I would also add that all Usonians and Canadians are pretty car dependent. When adults also feel they don't have to drive around as much you actually see how much more freedom you have to live a safer, more carefree lifestyle as well. Thoughts?

[@gumerzambrano]

@@studio.leonardo I agree. I remember when I was a freshman in highschool (2014) and the subway line connecting East Los Angeles to Santa Monica opened I rode it and I was in awe that I had gotten to the beach (about 23 miles away) without my parents driving me there. I was in a group of friends and we all had a great time walking around

[@nuntius1]

فيديو اسطوري كالعادة🙌

[@studio.leonardo]

If I've translated this properly, I appreciate it man! Thanks for the support :)

[@eskualerritar]

Lovely to hear advocacy for the philosophy of "dolce fare niente" as my sister would say. It's a shame there are so many barriers to third spaces; one that I can think for where I live is how bloody cold it gets in winter. It's true that back home it sometimes got almost as cold and we just coped with it but I can see how that's a barrier. Also, loving the term usonian

[@studio.leonardo]

A beautiful saying indeed! Whether definitely plays a factor in being able to hang out outside but I think that makes the coffee shops, social houses and pubs just as important in the winter months for people to get together without freezing their buns off XD

[@lydiaschaffer659]

I have been trying to point this out to my parnts(and others) forever and looking for videos about it. Thanks sm for this vid❤

[@studio.leonardo]

So happy you found it helpful! Please feel free to reach out if you or your family have any questions or skepticism, I think it's important we debate to try and develop these ideas/ solutions more :)

[@NateHatch]

Such a great explainer.

[@studio.leonardo]

Appreciate that, Nate! 😊

[@micosstar]

awesome video!

[@UntitledPlanning]

This is such a great video Rachel! 🔥

[@UrbanistBlooms]

I would also argue nature should be seen as a first place, because it is the space we inhabit, build and extract from, and inherently we are nature itself. This is the mindset of moving away from dualism back to the idea we are not separate from nature, but we are a part of it like apples on a tree. Everything built in the human environment is an expression of this planet itself, we look at a beaver dam and see it as nature, and yet everything we do is just a fancy more complicated version of a beaver dam. With this mindset we can lead to a much healthier happier future.

[@studio.leonardo]

Thanks so much for taking the time to articulate that. I've never thought about it that way before!

[@UrbanistBlooms]

@@studio.leonardo "We are waves of the same sea, leaves of the same tree, flowers of the same garden." This quote is from the ancient Roman philosopher known as Seneca. Feel free to use these words, as these are not my own.

[@user-gu9yq5sj7c]

Leonardo was just distinguishing between pure nature and man made cities where communities of people are more likely to want to hang out in cause there's more to do in cities and it's closer to home. Unless you put a piece of nature near cities and homes like a park. But I think Leo wasn't talking about parks but about the wild. Also, unfortunately, not enough cities and easy access are built near nature. First place is home. Not everyone even have a yard.

[@vickileonardo1820]

Great video! I see the value in having third in the US as a gathering space for all, including seniors. I met an 80+ year old on a bus who shared she can’t drive anymore and says it’s such a shame that rides the bus just get out of her home.

[@studio.leonardo]

Incredible story, it goes to show how important inclusive design strategies will continue to become more important in the coming years.

[@danielchristiansen9324]

My third place is the gym👍

[@user-gu9yq5sj7c]

A third place can't be behind a paywall, like most gyms, or pressure people to have to buy things to stay, or forbid loitering. It also preferably shouldn't have to be driven to otherwise it feels like a chore and is only accessible to drivers. But be a place people can casually walk and drop by on and stay as long as people want for free. Like your home but in public and with community.

[@yuliaxgon]

I love this video!! I've been watching a lot of videos about this subject and you summarized so much of what I'm learning in one video! I will show this video to my social media class, thank you!! Quick question, when you say Usonians do you mean Americans? I was a little bit confused by the term.

[@studio.leonardo]

That means so much! Thanks for taking the time to watch! I like to try and use the term Usonion to talk about people from the US since I personally feel we are all Americans whether from the north or south! 😊

[@yuliaxgon]

OOOOH I LOVE THAT!! I'm going to use that from now on too. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us!!!@@studio.leonardo

[@user-gu9yq5sj7c]

@@studio.leonardo Saying American isn't excluding south America and Canada. I use American cause it's convenient and a established term. Canada and the countries in south America already have terms which is the name of their counties. If people wanted to talk about south America then they can say South America or North American when talking about Canada and America.

[@applenaught6768]

I remember showing a German friend my hometown and when I got to the mall there was a Spirit Halloween sign on it where the Belk used to be.

[@studio.leonardo]

Wow 😮 I’d love to know what both of your reactions were

[@christianchellis9057]

Top golf, escape rooms, and dave and busters are not bad third places but they lack the ability to meet new people.

[@tyleralberico9340]

"Shop like you mean it" That's incredible

[@tyleralberico9340]

Also the background of this subject goes WAY deeper than I thought! This is incredible

[@studio.leonardo]

Wild right? It's all so fascinating

[@TalwinderDhillonTravels]

Man i love the word Usonian 😂😂😂

[@missZoey5387]

2:27 I didn't have a third space growing up

[@mavila1368]

Neither did I, I definitely relied on my parents driving me everywhere if I wanted to go anywhere

[@MichaelStrawn_I_am]

Collaboration?

[@arnomrnym6329]

Thx for using Usonians. 👍🏾😎

[@benjamincarter6095]

I won't go anywhere I can't park for free out front, and I avoid both malls and urban centers like the plague. I still want to enjoy third places. Modern city planners COMPLETELY ignore my needs, and I'm not alone on this.