The challenge is that in the modern commercial landscape, this "third place" often simply doesn't exist. It's economically inefficient. At least in the parts o

The challenge is that in the modern commercial landscape, this "third place" often simply doesn't exist. It's economically inefficient. At least in the parts of the US that I've visited, coffee shops either fill up with people working solo behind laptops, or they're chains that maximize turnover by making furniture scarce and uncomfortable. The pub is usually a bar with multiple huge televisions and blaring music. In a bar, I'm usually completely unable to follow a conversation at all. "The club" usually means a fraternal organization like the Elks or the Kiwanis. In most areas, these organizations have long ago aged into being irrelevant. And where they haven't, they're usually very conservative and very insular. Among the places I've lived, two used to have "community hubs" that died and were never replaced. College Park, MD, used to have a coffee shop called the College Perk in an old rambling house above a highway underpass. It closed down after an electrical fire. Cupertino, CA, used to have another place called Coffee Society. It was the kind of place where regulars met to play chess and have discussions. It closed several years and stands vacant to this day.