Lorraine Ensley
Knowledge Management Systems
Spring 2005
Book Evaluation: The Great Good Place by Ray Oldenburg
Around the world, people come together to share companionship and conversation. There is no single definition of what constitutes a community social meeting space; the concept has different meanings to different people. In his book The
Great Good Place , Ray Oldenburg offers advice on what he believes makes the ideal informal public social setting.
In Part I of The Great Good Place , Oldenburg introduces his theories by examining the places in human life. The first place is home. Home is the private place to which an individual retreats and rests. It is a place for family. Home is not a good place for friends to commune and socialize because not all the people present will be comfortable with the setting or the presence of damageable personal objects. The home also usually lacks sufficient furnishing and seating for social gatherings. The second place in people’s lives is work. Work is the productive, structured, and competitive setting in which people earn a living. The private work setting is hugely inappropriate for leisurely, informal socializing. The first and second place rankings of home and work are both in order of necessity in people’s lives and the amount of time typically spent in each setting. After examining these two critical places in human life, Oldenburg offers insight into a third place humans go that to him is equally critical.
Oldenburg’s third place is the core setting of informal public life. He observes that a successful third place is on neutral ground where everyone can feel comfortable to gather and go and come as they please. The third place is a leveler; it is a public

establishment that is blind to the rank and status of individuals and is inexpensive to frequent. Third places maintain low profiles through unimpressive exteriors while maintaining interiors that are comfortable and welcoming. Visitors to third places are virtually assured the presence of friends and the promise of pleasant banter. Third places develop character through the personalities of their regular visitors. Most importantly, third places are characterized by the dynamic, interesting, and inclusive conversations that occur in the place.
Oldenburg argues that the benefits of third places are precious and vital. “The leveling, primacy of conversation, certainty of meeting friends, looseness of structure, and eternal reign of the imp of fun all combine to set the stage for experiences unlikely to be found elsewhere” (p.43). The third place contributes novelty and perspective into the lives of visitors. In conversing with the wide groups that frequent third places, individuals develop human relationships and can reflect on and learn about society.
Companionship and humor are the “spiritual tonics” (p.55) that enrich the lives of third place visitors; through conversations friendships are developed and maintained that fill the human need for “intimacy and affiliation” (p.63).
Oldenburg concludes this examination of third places by presenting the problem of place in America. America lost what weak beginnings of third places it had in the past in the form of main streets and informal social clubs. According to Oldenburg, both urban and suburban modern America suffers from a deficiency of third places.
Americans today shuttle between home and work, filling their unoccupied time with antisocial television and consumerism. What few third places America does offer are not on the convenient residential street-corner, they are loud establishments to which patrons

have to drive in distasteful cars. Leisurely conversation is absent from these American places, patrons sit isolated and only acknowledge previous acquaintances. There is also the problem of the American bar being a drunken and inhospitable environment. Bars are loud and disorderly and do not qualify as successful third places. Elite social clubs do not constitute third places because the general public is not welcome in the locations.
The lack of the third place in America results in the isolation of individuals, the buildup of stress, and the absence of friendly outlets in society. Oldenburg expresses regret at the need he feels to present American third places in “sour and unpleasant notes” (p.18), but believes that his criticisms are productive in directing American readers to the support of third places.
Part II of the book is a tour through various international third places. Oldenburg begins by examining the old-world German and early German-American beer garden.
This informal social place was the “base of viable community life” (p.90). The lager beer garden was a “parent form of association out of which the more formally organized activities would emerge” (p.90). The establishments welcomed people of all genders and ages, and didn’t impose prohibitive prices. The next third place visited is Main Street of small town America that flourished until the mid-20 th Century. Oldenburg reflects fondly on the activity of strolling up Main Street to break routine and catch up on gossip. This was a place where people walked and interacted; they did not drive cars or sidestep one another. Children played on the sidewalks and streets and old-timers sat outdoors socializing. From Main Street USA, Oldenburg travels to the English pub, which,
“unlike the American tavern or cocktail lounge...enjoys a good press, an aura of respectability, and a high degree of integration in the life of citizenry” (p.123). English

pubs are actually multi-environment clubs, where rooms divide activity and create atmosphere. Oldenburg presents the pub as “superior to drinking establishments in most other cultures” (p.125) in that it offers scale and warmth. Pubs are welcoming and encourage laughter and leisure. The cafe is France’s version of the third place. “Le bistro (as the French usually call it) encourages visits of longer duration than the pub and is an even more available institution. Paris has thousands of sidewalk cafes.” (p. 146).
The bistro is scenic, inviting, and never a far walk from the modest French residence.
The bistro institution is important in the French culture; Oldenburg states that “the French expect more from their institution than do Americans, and theirs ha(ve) provided the tripodal base of the good life. The fulfillments of home and work coexist with a full, informal public life available to all French people” (p.163). In the American colonial era,
“the tavern was the focal point of community. Combined with lodging facilities as an inn or ordinary, it was a ‘forum and a community center’” (p.165). However, the American tavern is now a “failing institution” (p.166). The private consumption of alcohol has become vogue in America, rendering taverns endangered species and contributing to major social problems. Remaining taverns suffer low-class regular patronage and do not promote friendliness and conversation. Oldenburg concludes his tour of third places by looking at classic coffehouses across Europe that cherish association and elegance and attract all members of society to the warmth of their tables and brews.
In the third part of his book, Oldenburg addresses forces that threaten third places.
He begins with a criticism on urban sprawl and how the phenomenon has endangered third places in America in a chapter entitled “A Hostile Habitat.” Second, he tackles the problem of third places being open to all ages and genders. In “The Sexes and the Third

Place,” Oldenburg surmises on the importance of bonding within genders. A large portion of the chapter is devoted to the mourning of all-male bonding institutions. He asserts that males need a sanctum to reduce pressure and this will pour over into an improved home life. In “Shutting Out Youth,” Oldenburg laments the social isolation of children and adults. He asserts that children are “undesirabl(e)...in our present culture”
(p.266) and are either overlooked or overscheduled. Teenagers are also socialized at malls, which are highly controlled environments focused on consumerism and consequently poor third places. Oldenburg concludes his book with a plea for better third places. He advocates the defragmentation of American society and return to a lifestyle that includes a positive, public social sphere. His parting message to “those who despair of suburbia’s lifeless streets, of the plastic places along our ‘strips,’ or of the congested and inhospitable mess that is ‘downtown,’ it is: It doesn’t have to be like this!” (p.296).
Oldenburg’s opinions and statements in The Great Good Place are undeniably controversial. His explorations of third places are thought provoking; however they are interlaced with statements that are anecdotal, highly-biased, and at times outrageous.
Although the ideal of social communities interacting is probably well-received
(socialness is usually an attractive concept), Oldenburg’s persistent criticism and narrowview of American social customs is likely offensive to many readers. Oldenburg also mainly limits his exploration of social places to Western cultures, overlooking the social habits of a large portion of the world’s population.
Oldenburg presents several relevant issues pertaining to social environments. He analyzes the forces and benefits of social interaction. Most provocative are his explorations into cultural habits and domestic issues. Social gatherings and activities are

interesting to explore and learn about, and thus add a dimension to the book that piques social curiosity. However, the weaknesses of Oldenburg’s work far outweigh its intellectual merits. The book is full of subjective assertions and inconsistencies that insult a reader’s intellect.
The book is rife with statements that are unsupported and clearly amiss.
Oldenburg presents various and conflicting opinions about drinking and intoxication.
He asserts “European bars do not encourage compulsive drinking, as do those in the
United States” (p.160). He offers no support to this statement, only presents it as fact. In other sections of the book he states that “Germans valued reduced potency above taste”
(p.90) and he argues that European bars temper alcohol consumption by offering alternative nonalcoholic beverages. Any reasonably intelligent person would find these statements overly-general and susceptible to attack by counter-examples. Oldenburg’s views on the relationship between males and females are similarly unsupported and hopelessly antiquated. He states that “in a remarkable upsetting of the older order of things, women now have more freedom to cultivate friendships than do men within the world of middle-class marriages. Moreover, women’s heightened status and earning power are increasing their independence” (p.252). Countless feminists and working moms in America would vehemently disagree with these sentiments. Even more slighting is a statement earlier in the book that must be recounted in its entirety to do justice to its full absurdity:
“I recently chatted with a practicing psychiatrist all too familiar with wifebeating. He lamented the decline of the neighborhood tavern in which he

felt men could ‘let off steam’ and not have to ‘take everything out on their wives.’ He was convinced that much of the irrational aggression and violence of the wife-beater is due to the lack of safety valves such as the lively tavern once offered to a far greater proportion of the population than it does today. My suspicion is that a good tavern keeps ‘steam’ from building up more than it provides a means to ‘blow it off,’ but there seems ample evidence to support both views” (p.80).
One does not know where to begin with how wrong this passage is. To suggest that wifebeating could be quelled by a visit to the local tavern is abominable. How many victims of domestic violence would agree that a visit to an establishment that primarily serves alcohol is a good choice for their partner? Of course, according to Oldenburg, the tavern is supposed to focus on conversation and banter, not the consumption of alcohol, but he should try to tell that to the wife-beater.
That this book is published as an academic work is offensive, to scholars and
Americans, on a very basic level. It is extremely negative toward American culture and institutions and is blind or insensitive to the social and cultural environments that
Americans embrace. The author calls Americans uncivilized and questions why people from any other country would want to be in their company (p.161). The book leaves readers with the impression that Oldenburg is hopelessly quixotic and negative toward social environments and practices that don’t fit into his scheme.
America offers a variety of social environments and public places that are culturally and ethnically diverse. It is rare to come across a community that doesn’t have

some sort of local hangout. People commune at churches, schools, clubs, community attractions, dog parks, and coffee shops. Social interaction, although different from in other nations, is not absent in America. Americans support the places they enjoy, and if a community desires a local pub, by the law of supply and demand a pub will probably be opened in the area.
Also in America, as seen across the globe, technology-enabled public social environments are changing the ways people communicate. Virtual communities offer many of the amenities Oldenburg looks for in his third places. They are public, inexpensive, and always-available forums for conversation and activity. Discussion forums, blogs, cyber-cafes, social networks, chat rooms, and even text messaging and email offer places for groups to participate in communication and social exchange. Site design and format create virtual atmospheres. Technology even offers visual forms of distance communication. Public establishments that offer free WiFi internet access to encourage this social intercourse. Wireless hotspots invite patrons to linger over their meal or beverage and perform their online activities and communications. Variations on these practices and technologies were likely not completely absent when book was originally written, and certainly were present by the time of the later editions, but are not included in the book’s analysis. It is likely that Oldenburg would not accept the notion of virtual third places that don’t involve physical presence and environment. However, people all over the world come to these places; places where physical distance, borders, and cultural lines nearly don’t exist and satisfying communication flourishes.
The Great Good Place is a book that, on the surface, appears to have a highly interesting topic that both academics and laypeople can enjoy. Oldenburg’s discussion of

the need for third places is poignant and engaging. His discussion of the third places of other cultures could have added a great deal of weight to the book. Instead, he chooses to use the topic as an opportunity to rant about his dislikes of American culture, rather than to discuss the unique forms that third places take in the culture. This makes the book frustrating to read and erodes most of the credibility the book has.

Work Cited
Oldenburg, R. (1999). The Great Good Place: Cafes, Coffee Shops, Bookstores, Bars,
Hair Salons, and Other Hangouts at the Heart of a Community . New York:
Marlowe & Company.