Way, way late to this conversation, but thanks for sharing this article, Camden! I’ve always loved the idea of third places and completely agree with Sarah’s thoughts and admonitions, including Asheville being a special place. I’m grateful I’m only a few hours away!
Like Asheville, we’re intentional about promoting unique places which can tend to be third places.
We also encourage workshops, meetings, or meetups at third places with our stakeholders. Last week I was at a coffee shop that has a small upstairs area and outdoor patio that can be used for meetings and at least three meetups were occurring with groups from about 6-15 people. It was great to see.
The outdoors are important to us, so we leverage grant funds we administer to support stakeholders who create new outdoor spaces and experiences where people can gather. Our Augusta Canal National Heritage Area is often a place I meet up with friends to go mountain biking or kayaking and its fun to meet other enthusiasts on the trails or the water who are either visitors or community members/future friends.
I’d argue that getting out of our cars encourages connections and economic activity for third places too, so we actively work with local government to promote infrastructure projects that make for a more walkable and bikeable downtown. It makes it easier for people discover, access, and move between third places.
We’re also rolling out themed trails. The first one promotes visitation to our locally owned coffee shops.
A common theme we hear from our local university students is that there aren’t enough late night spots for the under 21 crowd. They seem to be looking for third places they can access aside from bars, so we try to talk to restaurants and coffee shops about their hours and extending them.
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