Why the Decline of Third Spaces Is a Public Health Issue and How DCH Is Investing in Their Future
Libraries, community centers, local diners, barber shops, malls, and even grocery stores are spaces that once formed a connective tissue of daily life, and they are disappearing. Known as third spaces, these centers are where we gather outside of home and work to socialize, learn, rest, and commune with neighbors.
Sociologist Ray Oldenburg called them “the great, good places,” and emphasized their importance as accessible environments where community happens organically. Emerging research shows the decline of these spaces and the consequences for public health, equity, and well-being.
The Great Good Places in Community Health
Third spaces are components of our social infrastructure. The network of physical spaces, services, and institutions that enable communities to connect, collaborate, and support one another during times of celebration and crisis can serve as lifelines. During the 2019 polar vortex and during many natural disasters, libraries, churches, police stations, and community centers transform into emergency warming shelters. They protect vulnerable residents from life-threatening conditions, and serve as spaces where local stores donate supplies and volunteers mobilize to save lives.
Third spaces serve essential functions, including children’s reading circles and fostering healthy debate over coffee on community topics. They provide informal emotional and social care and are safe environments for individuals who may not have stability elsewhere. They reduce loneliness, stress, and social isolation.
Benefits are significant for older adults, youth, people with chronic illnesses, and residents of under-resourced neighborhoods. When third spaces disappear, the protective networks that support these groups weaken.
The Decline in Third Places
The United States is experiencing a contraction in third spaces, and data from the National Establishment Time-Series (NETS) shows very significant declines between 2008 and 2015 across many third-place categories, including grocery stores, barbershops, laundromats, recreational centers, and religious institutions. The consequences are profound.
Living in neighborhoods with limited access to resources and gathering spaces is associated with higher stress levels, poorer chronic health outcomes, increased loneliness, reduced physical activity, fewer opportunities for youth engagement, weakened civic participation, and lower neighborhood safety and resilience.
Third Spaces and Equity
Third spaces are indicators of neighborhood investment. Research shows that access to community spaces influences health outcomes and correlates with their decline, disproportionately affecting low-income communities, where existing resource gaps already contribute to disparities. Understanding who has access to third spaces, and who does not, is necessary to addressing larger systemic inequities in health, safety, and economic mobility.
How DCH Is Investing in Third Spaces
While the nationwide decline in third spaces raises concern, it also shows an opportunity for action. Equitable community development must include both housing and social infrastructure. As a mission-driven nonprofit developer, DCH recognizes that healthy neighborhoods cannot be built on housing alone. They require accessible spaces where residents can learn, gather, grow, and find support.
DCH not only builds high-quality, affordable housing communities like Hillburn Hills, but also invests directly in the third spaces that strengthen neighborhood wellbeing. An example of this commitment is DCH’s revitalization of the Hillburn Hills Community Center.
DCH is transforming the Hillburn Hills Community Center into a functional, and future-focused third space. The center will serve as a hub that will offer digital literacy programming, a computer lab, sponsored in part by Spectrum, and an essential resources pantry, ensuring residents have a trusted space to receive items they need.
The decline of third spaces across the country is not just a cultural loss, it is a public health issue. We are committed to ensuring these spaces remain accessible and thriving. Through investments like the Hillburn Hills Community Center, DCH is demonstrating what it looks like to build not just housing, but more connected communities.
