third places

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

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.

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.

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?

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

The documentary Ballin’ at the Graveyard looks at the hardball culture and strong supportive ties between players that have brought two generations of men out to the same Albany, N.Y., […]

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.

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

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

I love the farmers’ market in my county, not far from where I live. It has grown into a lively gathering place on Saturday mornings during the growing season, with […]

There’s a place in every community where people congregate to exchange ideas, socialize, pray, engage, or just plain hang out. Those places aren’t home; they’re not work; they’re the point […]

I have been constantly astounded since I moved back to the city last summer at the extent to which television has penetrated our public spaces. I don’t mean out in […]