Tag: third places

Loneliness Kills; Community Developers Can Help

Some social determinants of health are concrete and physical. A substandard house with mold and pests, for example, will lead to more asthma and...

Shelter Shorts—The Week in Community Development, March 23

Omnibus Bill is Good for HUD | Barbershops are Good for Black Health | Kushner Tries to Make Rent-Reg Units Disappear | The U.S. is Quicksand for Black Boys | Not a Gap, a Chasm | More...

Shelter Shorts: The Week in Community Development, Jan. 12

Activists at the Golden Globes | Carson’s HUD Takes Some Heat | We Make an Exception on Workforce Housing | Companies Must "Do Better" in Nashville | California Makes Policy Using Opportunity Maps

Could Public Art on Utility Boxes Displace Communication?

What's not to like about colorful art on utility boxes? Well, in some places that drab infrastructure might be performing informal community functions...

Places of the Heart

Everyone has a story about third places—those gathering places that are not home or work—in the communities they have lived and worked. I wrote...

More than Hair: Barbershops

Last year when I was walking my neighborhood, flyering for the Tale of Two Cities march and feeling out of place as writer trying...

Do Denser, Poorer Areas Need More Third Places?

"In Kibera, the streets are truly the public spaces, and people are out all day, every day: selling, socializing, trading. People make their living—they...

“Where Are They?” Do We Think of Third Places When We...

“No community should be without these kinds of spaces. Therefore, when we think about planning or revitalization efforts or development, we saying, 'Where...

Hearts of the Neighborhood: “Third Places”

Several years ago, the family-owned florist two buildings down from my house closed. There was great consternation in the neighborhood about what would happen...

An Island Where There Is a Standard

Like so many of its counterparts across the country, Brick’s is more than just a barbershop in Albany, N.Y. It’s a haven in a troubled neighborhood.

Get Out of the Way

To create a great third place, one of the most important principles is to let users make it their own.

Saving The Village Pub

When a small U.K. village’s pub closed, a group that had formed to create affordable housing found itself launching a campaign to form a community-owned business and save a community gathering space as well.

Flowers Follow

Sometimes all a vacant lot needs to become a community hub is for someone to know who owns it and who can turn over the keys.

Hanging on to the Land

Community gardens and urban agriculture are crucial gathering places—and revitalizing forces—in neighborhoods with lots of vacancy and low values. But what happens to them when the market turns around?

Claiming Space

Community-driven art projects are helping to define and reshape neighborhood spaces in Philadelphia.

Ballin’ at the Graveyard

The documentary Ballin’ at the Graveyard looks at the hardball culture and strong supportive ties between players that have brought two generations of men...

Parking Lots to Craft Fairs

Nashville holds—and supports—a diverse, creative community that adds as much value to our city as the musicians and songwriters for which we are better known.

Safe Havens

Housing first, yes, but then services, recreation, education: These are all pillars to building strong communities, and most importantly, strong people.

A Tree and a House

Using vacancies to create neighborhood-based third spaces could change our urban landscape for the better.

In Praise of Farmers’ Markets, Despite Flaws

I love the farmers' market in my county, not far from where I live. It has grown into a lively gathering place on Saturday...