Third Place - Still the Center of Community

This month Big Creative Consulting launched the Sidewalk Ballet, a podcast focused on placemaking and community building in cities. 

We were very intentional about choosing our first guest for this ongoing conversion, and I have to say, I think we were spot on. 

Karen Christensen is an author and publisher who is preparing to release what promises to be an essential addition to any city-builders reading list. As she recounts in episode one, Karen, over many years developed, first an admiration, then a friendship and ultimately a partnership with Ray Oldenberg, author of the ground breaking 1989 book, The Great Good Place, introducing the concept of Third Place. 

A lot has changed since Ray's introduction of the concept, including the collective understanding and interpretation of the concept. What is and isn’t a Third Place, per Oldenburg's assertions really depends on a number of variables that, simply put, align to support conversation and connection as a central focus. What has not changed, although one could argue has become more acute, is the importance of these Third Places in community. Local communities and global communities require us to engage with each other with empathy and familiarity, to build multidimensional relationships. To know our neighbors. 

Karen’s upcoming release started as a collaboration with Ray before his passing in 2022 and now she has been charged with finishing the sequel - the update, if you will, bringing Ray’s concepts to the world of the digital commons, the escalated climate crisis, political polarization and a crisis of loneliness and isolation. Our conversation covered a lot of ground, but we’ve only begun to scratch the surface. 

We’ve now released four episodes and recorded several more interviews to be released in the weeks to come. In every conversation, the topic of Third Place comes up. 

Chip in conversation with Majora Carter for the Sidewalk Ballet

In Episode 2, Majora Carter joined me for an incredible conversation about strategic development in low status communities. She spoke of the importance of places like her Boogie Down Grind Cafe in Hunts Point, South Bronx, providing a community center for local residents to connect with themselves and each other. It’s what she calls lifestyle infrastructure, a vital element in supporting talent retention and economic growth. 

We also talked with Tinisch Hollins and Gwen Brown of SF Black Wall Street about providing and supporting Black Spaces, like their 1921 lounge, 

Episode 3 we welcomed Project for Public Spaces (PPS) Co Executive Director, Nate Storring as PPS celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. A lot of our conversation centered around the legacy of PPS at this important milestone, but we did get to geek out around the complexities of Place Governance, and the very tricky relationship between public space and private interests. 

When you distill the ideas of The Great Good Place, They very much align with the core values of Big Creative Consulting, and the impetus for the Sidewalk Ballet. When people are able to come together in places that are well designed, thoughtfully programmed and collectively cared for, we are better as a people. That is a simple concept, but actualizing that vision today is not a simple task. It takes work and intention from a lot of people to remove barriers that keep us, and others from connecting. 

What might inspire me most about the conversations we’re having is that each of our guests are doing that work in unique ways and we are all learning from each other how to be more effective, more intentional and more connected to our communities. 

Where do you find Community? Do you have a Third Place, or Third Places where everybody knows your name? What’s the most unlikely version of a Third Place you’ve seen?

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