In Ray Oldenburg’s book, “The Great Good Place” he describes the third place as “a generic designation for a great variety of public places that host the regular, voluntary, informal, and happily anticipated gatherings of individuals beyond the realms of home and work” (Oldenburg 16). Home and work are seen as the “first” and “second” spaces, and anywhere outside of home and work (cafés, bars, libraries etc.) are considered “third” spaces. Third spaces are very common among large cities and towns and those with higher populations. These types of spaces cater to the community they are in and improve city/town life they reside in; they help better the economy, encourage and produce social interaction, and create a neutral and friendly environment that suits the needs of those who go to them. …show more content…
Third places are very helpful for businesses because they “attract people and add vibrancy to a location” (Bernhardt). If communities held bi-annual festivals or events they would draw in an abundance of people which would then in turn, help the businesses and the economy of the communities flourish. Third spaces also help the economy because they better the daily lives of the people who live in the community. People like having a place they can go to and relax that is separate from their home and work life. For some that might be a bar, while others might find comfort in a quiet neighborhood park. A popular third space that draws in many different people is Club La Vela in Panama City, Florida. It is a popular destination for both locals and visitors and it attracts people to the other businesses
Ray Oldenburg’s essay, “The Problem of Place in America,” is a well written essay about Americans and how we need to build a tripod, which would assist in balancing family, work, friends, and neighbors. In his essay he explains we spend much of our time at work and what is not spent at work, Americans spend at home with their families. You may be thinking, what else is there time for in our daily schedules? According to Oldenburg, we need to spend more time with our friends and neighbors. He believes Americans become bored and spend their money on materialistic things rather than meeting some friends at the local taverns/parks to simply relax and help relieve the daily stress. He also goes on to say, “that Americans would not be so stressed if they would complete this tripod and keep a healthy balance between friends, family, and the work force.” According to his essay, more time should be spent with neighbors and friends, whether it is at a local pub or coffee shop. Does Oldenburg have some good points? Yes, however this essay does not address some important factual information. In reality, Americans have extremely busy schedules. Therefore the main question is; is it possible to spread our time between family, friends, and work equally? According to Ray Oldenburg it is, but if you were to take a close look at the essay you may question his reasoning and his solutions for completing the “tripod.”
In 1990, the second Modern Language Association Literacy Conference was held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. During the conference Mary Louise Pratt a Stanford Professor delivered a keynote/lecture that revolutionized how people think about their social spaces. She introduced a revolutionary way to think about these social spaces, instead of calling them communities she started calling it the “contact zone”. According to Pratt a “contact zone is a place where cultures meet, clash, and grapple” (Pratt 487). While lecturing her fellow colleagues Pratt argues that our idea of community is strongly utopian. She continues to plead her case by saying that societies often profess, “embodying values like equality fraternity and liberty, but systematically fail to realize”. (Pratt 493). Pratt wanted her colleagues to realize that it comes down to seeing your social spaces as “communities” or as “contact zones”. Although, she makes a strong case stating that communities are considered utopian and therefore social spaces should not be seen as such. I believe social spaces should be seen as “contact zones” and that we should embrace that clash of cultures it creates because it has the potential to make us stronger. After all, the laws of celestial mechanics dictate that when two objects (cultures) collide there is always damage of a collateral nature. While reflecting on how the concepts of “community” and “contact zone” affect me and how I perceive my social spaces, I could not think of a better example than the “Northeastern University Community”. It made me think of how one gets to be part of a social space, how being outside or inside of such space can influence the point of view one has on it, and even how could it be possible that we suc...
The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom is the story about the life of a woman in Holland during the German Nazi invasion and holocaust. Miss. Ten Boom tells about her childhood, helping people escape through the anti-Nazi underground, her arrest and imprisonment, and her release. As a child Miss.
Space can be defined as the zone between people (citation: tcn). Different cultures have different zone preferences. It’s important to realize that comfort levels can vary depending on those zone preferences (citation: tcn). Space can be intimate, personal, consultative, and public (citation: tcn). First, intimate space is within touching distance. Then, personal space is the area around an individual that is considered theirs. Next, consultative space is being at a distance that is appropriate for social interaction. Finally, public space is a zone that is open to all people (citation: psych).
Thus, the reality of places is constructed through social actions including both individual and collective efforts, through informal associations and institutions of government and the economy, rather than through the inherent qualities (Logan and Lolotch, 1987, p.45). Hence, the conclusion is well constructed. The authors effectively use 'compare and contrast' structure and 'cause and effect' structure in the chapter to build and enhance their argument. They also back up their arguments citing various researchers throughout the chapter, in almost all the sections, making their argument more persuasive. Logan and Molotch enhances the
This can be extrapolated to a community service as a recreational activity, where people have to interact and that way the life of a city becomes more outgoing. A dog park can be a good experience for dogs because they can feel the relaxing place where they do not have to use a leash, so they are free to move wherever they feel like inside the park. This situation can be helpful to the people, since they are free of worries of their dogs because a big, closed pet-friendly place would give them the confidence that there are no hazards, like vehicles, or any damage to the dog. Also, a dog park in the city would help to create friendship and an identity of community since dog owners do not have to go to other cities to enjoy these kind of parks. Instead, they can be part of an identity and recognize themselves in their own city.
Pahl, Jon. (2003). The Mall as Sacred Space. In Behrens Laurence & Rosen Leonard (Eds.),
Tony Hiss Author of The Experience of Place brings to our attention that as humans “We react, consciously or unconsciously, to the places where we live and work, in ways we scarcely notice or that are only now becoming known to us…In short, the places where we spend our time affect the people we are and can become.” Place defines characteristics in both human and extended moral communities. Place is not necessarily specific to gender, race, generation or specie. This understanding and recognition of place is fundamental when thinking about institutionalizing ecological and social responsibility.
Sheehan, R. (2010). 'I 'm protective of this yard ': long-term homeless persons ' construction of home place and workplace in a historical public space. Social & Cultural Geography, 11, 6,
Sense of place is the “development of level of comfort and feelings of safety that are associated with a place” (Kopec, p. 62). These associations often translate into that desired sense of belonging, and allow individuals the ability to “develop feelings of attachment to particular settings based on combinations of use, attractiveness, and emotion” (Stokowski, 2002). Developing these psychological connections with certain places lends itself to the concept of place attachment, or, “a person’s bond with the social and physical environments of a place” (Kopec, p. 62). These places often hold deep meaning for people because their identities were established among their surroundings. This affiliation between a person and their place is often seen through personal connection, comfort, and security (Kopec, p. 131). Many people feel as though the place they are in should have its own “special character”, or an identity that defines it, and distinguishes it from other places (Kopec, p.1). Kopec states, “An environment’s distinct spatial features, how it compares with others, its connections to personal life paths, and its potential for change combine to affect the meanings places have for people”. An establishment of this sense of place identity ...
As I was reading a lot of things stood out to me. I never thought about public education being a topic to be discussed deeply. In the book A Place Called School Goodlad states, “Teachers frequently have perceived themselves as confronting difficult problems of teaching less motivated students: “some of our classrooms are loaded with youths who have no wish to be there, whose aim is not to learn but to escape from learning” (pg.12). Reading this section of the reading made me so sad because unfortunately I do see how different our generation is becoming, and that affects students at school. During an internship I had last year at an elementary school I remember hearing a student say, “learning is for losers”. I was really surprised with what
Everyday experience tells us that different actions need different environments to take place in a satisfactory way. This fact is of course taken into consideration by current theory of planning and architecture, but so far the problem has been treated in a too abstract way. ‘Taking place’ is usually understood in a quantitative, functional sense with implications such as spatial distribution and dimensioning. But inter-human functions are not similar everywhere, they take place in very different ways and demand places with different properties, in accordance with different cultural traditions and different environmental conditions.
...ent form ranging from pubs, cafes, restaurants, coffee shops, swimming pools and so on; these spaces tend to be culture-specific. However, these space continue to use flânerie in order to engage consumers with the selling of goods. In the words of Benjaree, “it’s the appropriate mix of flânerie and third places that dictates the script for a successful public life.” For example, shopping centres are designed to encourage the state of idleness in terms of “hanging out.” Boutiques are present in both metropolitan and suburban areas, as well as a multitude of eateries to encourage people to “eat out.” More often than not, social contact, relaxation, leisure and entertainment all involve consumption of goods, whether it’s going to the cinemas, catching up with friends or simply taking a stroll, the individual is always a consumer when they are within the public sphere.
The politics, religion, status, age, and social standards of people determine acceptable boundaries for personal space. What is acceptable in the United States differs from what is acceptable in Europe or the Middle East when interacting in each other’s space. Indeed, despite biological similarities as a human race, the social influences that surround an individual affect behavior (Trolley, “Personal Space”). Therefore, each culture must be sensitive to others’ established boundaries, knowing that personal space is just that: personal.
My favorite place as a child was County Park Lake. When we had family picnics because we all got together and there was great food and kids playing and the adults playing horse-shoes and could tell there was love for one another. There was no other place like this when I was a child. Some of my fondest memories was at that picnic site we should all have memories likes those.