There are more third spaces in North America today than have ever existed in the history of humanity, both commercial and non-commercial.
Every time someone claims otherwise I ask for evidence but have never received any. (except for the decrease in the number of bowling alleys, ok you got me there that's ONE)
In support of my assertion, I give evidence of the constantly increasing number of public parks, public libraries, and places of amusement like maker spaces, restaurants, and the like.
For example, in the US there are approximately 500 more libraries today than there were 20 years ago. There are, depending on how you count, 100 more public parks.
It is easier and more engaging to be a pessimist though.
It's like how decrepitly old ham radio operators constantly complain about how the hobby is dying despite there being more licensees and a wider variety of projects being undertaken as part of the hobby than ever.
There are things to do and people to meet everywhere, on every street of every city, EVEN IN THE SUBURBS YOU PRETEND TO DESPISE, and people are too busy bitching on the internet about how there aren't to realize it.
> For example, in the US there are approximately 500 more libraries today than there were 20 years ago. There are, depending on how you count, 100 more public parks.
I'm not sure how useful these absolute numbers are. At minimum I'd think you would need to normalize against population growth. According to Google, US population has grown by ~17% in the past 20 years.
But even separate from that, US-wide stats may not be informative about whether libraries and parks are over-crowded in any given state or metro area.
I wouldn't assume the root cause of these complaints is necessarily pessimism. Ironically, that assumption itself seems a bit pessimistic too!
I think the elephant in the room with this discussion is homelessness. Aside from public parks and libraries though, I think you can quantify that churches, social clubs and bars are in decline. While these places still exist, many of the options that people used to exercise for going out in public are no longer being considered as much.
Every time someone claims otherwise I ask for evidence but have never received any. (except for the decrease in the number of bowling alleys, ok you got me there that's ONE)
In support of my assertion, I give evidence of the constantly increasing number of public parks, public libraries, and places of amusement like maker spaces, restaurants, and the like.
For example, in the US there are approximately 500 more libraries today than there were 20 years ago. There are, depending on how you count, 100 more public parks.
It is easier and more engaging to be a pessimist though.
It's like how decrepitly old ham radio operators constantly complain about how the hobby is dying despite there being more licensees and a wider variety of projects being undertaken as part of the hobby than ever.
There are things to do and people to meet everywhere, on every street of every city, EVEN IN THE SUBURBS YOU PRETEND TO DESPISE, and people are too busy bitching on the internet about how there aren't to realize it.