#third-places — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #third-places, aggregated by home.social.
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The 51st: Meet the D.C. devotees of a very niche arcade game. “Killer Queen is a 10-player arcade game designed to get you off of your phone and playing with strangers. In one D.C. bar, dedicated fans are trying to get new players hooked.”
https://rbfirehose.com/2026/04/21/the-51st-meet-the-d-c-devotees-of-a-very-niche-arcade-game/ -
An alleyway of hope towards community healing
Sadly in the United States, racism and bigotry are hardly a new thing. No matter how much we want to deny it, this country was largely born of racism and far too many of our fellow citizens continue to practice it on a daily basis.
Alley before – Source: patronicity.com Ohki Alley now Source: patronicity.comThat’s why it was so refreshing and rewarding to recently stumble upon a revitalized alleyway in small Indiana town that is attempting to right a terrible past wrong, while also adding walkable placemaking feature for the community.
Source: indianahistory.orgThe Ohki Alley in downtown Columbia City, Indiana is located directly across from the Whitley County Courthouse. This narrow alley honors Shinzo Ohki, a Japanese immigrant to the area who built a thriving soy sauce business (Show-You Sauce), but who also felt the sting of bigotry during World War II (see below).
“A Kind and Gentle Man”
“I first met Shinzo Ohki in the early summer of 1942. My family had moved to 203 Brownwood Avenue in Columbia City and the Ohki’s were neighbors. I was about 9 years old at the time.
My brother, Harrison, and I developed a neighborhood business of mowing lawns, doing yard work and general odd jobs as needed. We had a good summer business of about eight or nine customers for walk and driveway snow shoveling, plus stacking wood. In those days, many home owners burned wood in the dwelling heating system. The truck from Morsches Lumber Company would dump a load of wood at the curb and it was the property owners responsibility to handle it. Our job was to toss the wood, one piece at a time, in the basement window and then stack it neatly near the furnace. It was hard work but also steady work and good exercise.
As I became better acquainted with Mr. Ohki, I also got to know his wife and daughter. They were all soft spoken and gentle people. They also were very interested in you and your welfare.
Mr. Ohki’s daughter, Grace, was in college at the time and a talented musician and world-class clarinet player. I remember her as Paid Advertisement
a beautiful young lady who was always asking me about school and any plans I had.Here we must remember the time frame. It was the early 1940s and World War II was just getting going.
My brother and I were very much enjoying our relationship with the Ohki family. Shinzo always talked with us and always overpaid us.
One summer day, after we had finished our work, Mr. Ohki came and paid us $10.00 each the usual amount for the weekly job was about $1.00 a piece. He was very soft-spoken, as usual, but not so cheerful that day. He said “You boys won’t be able to work for me anymore. It will be bad for you and your family if you do. I want you to tell your mother and dad everything I say and they will explain it.” He turned and quietly and quickly left. I think he was crying.
We started to cry as we walked home, thinking we had been fired from our job. We did as Shinzo had asked and told our folks everything he had said. They explained that others in our small town might bring grief to us for associating with a Japanese family a mystery to me at the time but well understood in later years.
True to his nature, Mr. Ohki was more concerned for our welfare than for his own.
My memory of him has not changed or dimmed over these past almost eighty years. He was indeed a kind and gentle man.”
The alley is adorned with tables and chairs, flowers, lighting, murals, and several historic markers about Mr. Ohki’s life. There is even a tiny ice cream shop (Alley Scoops) tucked into a doorway pocket along the corridor. The alley revitalization project was completed in 2020.
In today’s cantankerous environment, this little alleyway of hope is a charming breath of fresh air, both as a symbol of how to heal past sins, but also as a method for knitting the community back together physically with a wonderful placemaking featuring in the heart of downtown. And whenever you can successfully achieve two goals with a single project, that’s certainly a win-win situation. Kudos to a job well done, Columbia City.
Peace!
p.s. On this 80 anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan (today), this post about healing seems particularly appropriate. May humanity find lasting peace so that such brutal consequences of war never happen again.
#alley #cities #ColumbiaCity #food #fun #history #iceCream #Indiana #Japan #landUse #OhkiAlley #planning #preservation #revitalization #ThirdPlaces #tourism #travel
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Discovering Third Places and Astroturf Right-wing Misinformation
In this episode we learn about Third Places and they might be as close as your local Humanist group, then I do a deep dive on a recent Moms4Liberty online event attacking the Trans commu
#ColinWright #GenderIdentity #LoganLancing #MelissaKarwowski #MiaHughes #Moms4Liberty #SocialConnections #SocialJustice #ThirdPlaces
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This is Victoria St in Coburg.
The library is to the right, public toilets to the left and a bunch of public seating. It's a 'shared area' to provide car access for deliveries and carparks for the businesses here, but it's completely blocked off half way down and there is a lot of outdoor dining tables for a few cafes.Lots of good shade from the trees and a wide mix of people. Some shouting rogues, a few old people with mobility aids, a few tables of old Lebanonese men who are probably controlling local politics.
This is an excellent example of a 'third place'. You can tell some people are just here because this is where they hangout, catch up with their people and watch the world go by.
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Important comments on “third places” (the places in our community outside home & work that support social interaction, from the pub to the community centre or church) in our communities, and how they effect our politics. #ThirdPlaces
RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:uaouimfyg5u5da562qss3wxm/post/3lbpcvi3hp22m -
This week in the blog, I wrote about the intersection of third places and meetups and how I see our developer communities offering many similar key benefits than third places while differing in some aspects.
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If you want to belong, find a third place
Your neighbourhood watering hole is more important than you think.
via #nonostantement
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"am I going to talk shit about my mother? Absolutely the fuck I am"
Overhearing conversations like this are why we need more #PublicSpaces
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" This year’s program tracks will revolve around a range of topics we heard about in our call for proposals process, including waterfronts, placekeeping, reusing vacant space, streets as places, resilience, and more."
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International Placemaking Week 2024 in Baltimore
https://www.pps.org/article/get-ready-for-placemaking-week-2024-in-baltimore
"Placemaking Week is a multi-day, global gathering of over 400 public space leaders that emphasizes hands-on learning, off-site exploration, and innovative social events, all while leaving behind a public space legacy in host cities. "
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Third places are often great for introverts and extroverts a like! These are places that don't require planning or much planning other than being open.
"Your friends apartment is actually a third place for you."
"Introvert and not a homebody."
Watch "why you need a third place" on YouTube
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I'm in an annoyed mood today, as many can tell. Annoyed the #transit is for some reason a hot button issue. Rewatching through notjustbikes, some of my favorites, this one specifically, #america is missing #thirdplaces https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvdQ381K5xg
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> A place where you can pop in and out with little or no money; as a result, social hierarchy is left at the door, and all are equal, allowing for unexpected but delightful professional mingling— a CEO and a street performer can be seen chatting over drinks, while a fashion designer and a mechanic share a laugh at the bar.
> The concept of #ThirdPlaces has been around for centuries, evolving and changing through various eras...
https://medium.com/illumination/the-death-of-third-places-and-the-evolution-of-communities-5bbffc01c5e -
> #RayOldenburg himself, in an interview with 360 Magazine, shared, "Americans don't know how to build cities. A #LivableCity should have the daily necessities within walking distance, and we've moved so far from that. We have to get in the car for everything."
> In addition to.. #UrbanPlanning [mistakes], Allebach also explained that "technology, polarization, [and] institutional distrust" are other possible reasons for why #ThirdPlaces don't thrive in today's society.
https://www.thelist.com/1226424/the-third-place-is-a-way-of-creating-community-heres-how-to-use-it-to-your-advantage/ -
> ...the ideal hangout has a few components: spontaneity, purposelessness, and a willingness among all parties involved to go wherever the conversation leads them...
https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2022/04/third-places-meet-new-people-pandemic/629468/
#AllieConti #Spinelli #AshleySpinelli #ThirdPlaces #ThirdPlace #HangOuts -
Do you have at least one reliable #ThirdPlace besides your home & place of work where you can spend time & interact with your community?
#ThirdPlaces #urbanism -
Third places have disappeared en masse as people have less and less free time and everything has to be run akin to a for-profit company. Car-dependency feeds the issue, as does the strong hand of digital-first communication.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MD_CMrCpBMc
#Urbanism #ThirdPlaces #AntiCapitalism #Community #Neighborhood #FuckCars
