third places
Old and New Third Places
Tuesday, May 13th, 2008The Economist had a special feature on mobile technology, nomadic workers, and what both mean to urban society. One observation the writers made was that these mobile technologies often connect us to familiar people far away, but create a barrier toward connecting to strangers sitting beside us.
One example used was Third Places — coffee shops, […]
Hope against the spread of generica
Thursday, January 17th, 2008Visiting a new city becomes far more meaningful when you can find unique places where local people live and interact — when you can find an actual community. Usually this requires finding locally owned and operated restaurants, cafes, shops, etc. that often anchor neighborhoods.
In so many cities, whether in North America or around the […]
Starbucks - revitalizing force or more “generica”
Tuesday, January 8th, 2008No one can argue that Starbucks didn’t lend cache to newly revitalizing city neighborhoods. As young adults returned to live in central cities in record numbers, an expanding Starbucks was there to welcome them to warm, comfortable places….Starbucks stores have become familiar and important third places in cities, and it’s hard to imagine cities without […]