Informal neighborhood gathering places were, for many years, an integral part of our cities and towns. Since World War II, they've been vanishing.
Third places are nothing more than informal public gathering places.
Americans long enjoyed third places in the form of the inns and ordinaries of colonial society, then as the saloons and general stores springing up with westward expansion. See Sidebar, Colonial Taverns. Later came the candy stores, soda fountains, coffee shops, diners, etc. which, along with the local post office, were conveniently located and provided the social anchors of community life. Social well-being and psychological health depend upon community. Click lightning bolt icon at top left.