Howard Has a ‘Third Place’
By Bernie HunhoffWhat's a brand new coffee shop famous for great cookies and grilled panini doing in a place like Howard, S.D., pop. 1,070?
Well, according to sociologist Ray Oldenburg, that's exactly where coffee shops need to be located. Oldenburg is the originator of a fresh concept in community development known as "Third Places." His theory is that your home is your first place and your workplace is your second place — but people also need "third places" to gather where they can socialize and mingle with other people in a neutral place.
Third places could be parks, theaters, restaurants, community centers, downtown streets and — yes, coffee shops. But too often our rural communities put all their focus on first and second places and seldom find the time, money or energy to concentrate equally on third places. They might put a swing set and slide in the park. And if there's a gaping hole in downtown, we might even erect a flag pole and plant some flowers. But those hardly constitute a place for adults to gather and spend time.
Many small communities are too strapped for tax dollars to invest in "third places" even if leaders wanted to. But it's encouraging to see private citizens stepping forward to fill the needs. The best examples are the crop of truly first-class coffee shops now springing up in small towns. We've stumbled upon them everywhere from Big Stone City to Pine Ridge. And the latest is Higher Ground in Howard. Cheryl Laible, Jill Wunder and Julie Calmus (Julie is pictured above with her daughter, Maggie) partnered-up to create the shop. They built an entirely new building, filling a hole on Howard's main street.
They hope to add an outdoor garden with seating for 30 yet this summer, and they have a meeting room as well with a big screen TV. South Dakota Magazine is among the publications in the "loafing" area.
Stop by if you're driving down Highway 34 west of Madison. You'll enjoy touring the little city of Howard. Thanks to the efforts of the Miner County Community Revitalization group, the people there are showing America that small cities can succeed when they decide to work together.
Stop by Mahoney's Bar, just down the street from the coffee shop, for some great old-time photographs and a display of the WWII-era plane crash at nearby Fedora.
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You placed Higher Ground in Huron in the fourth paragraph. I get those H towns confused too but usually Harrisburg, Hartford and Humboldt.
Comment by Jill Callison — June 3, 2009 @ 3:33 pm
Thanks for the alert Jill. I fixed it. If only typos were so easily remedied in newspapers and magazines.
Comment by Bernie Hunhoff — June 3, 2009 @ 5:35 pm
Bernie,
I wish you could have visited Howard the same day Joe Bartmann did last winter when he heard three different languages being spoken by residents and business travelers at the Higher Grounds. Joe wrote a comment about the experience on one of our blog posts about third places back in January. (http://reimaginerural.com/coffee-shops-as-third-places/)
And speaking of third places…don’t forget about Main Street.
Oldenburg (who grew up in rural Minnesota during the 1940s) dedicates an entire chapter in The Great Good Place to the vital role small town main streets once played in community building. The point is, communities have struggled to replace the social capital that use to be built on main streets everywhere.
Comment by Mike — June 3, 2009 @ 7:37 pm
And there USED to be enough people to fill main street. Heck in less thaan 30 days there will be NO Carthage school district. And now those properity owners can expect to see a huge increase in taxes in coming years.
Comment by GRUMPY — June 4, 2009 @ 5:54 am
Why aren’t bars considered 3rd. places??
Comment by smtownguy — June 4, 2009 @ 3:20 pm
I think bars qualify for most people in most towns, although I suppose in some communities some bars are not a neutral place where everyone feels safe. I believe that’s a criteria for Third Places.
Comment by Jackie — June 4, 2009 @ 4:00 pm
I think Jackie’s right: some bars are third places. In fact Oldenburg identifies “English pubs” as third places, but these places tend to be very different from American bars. Ideally, everyone is welcome in a third place, regardless of age and economic class. And because conversation is the main activity, people build relationships that result in a sense of equality. I’m also sure he’d agree that not all coffee shops are third places.
Comment by Mike — June 4, 2009 @ 7:15 pm
On bars….Oldenburg also refers to the German-American beer gardens in 19th Century Milwaukee as third places where the entire family was welcome and behavior was STRICTLY monitored. They were also the places where associations were formed, which turned into some of the great community-organizations in Milwaukee.
Comment by Eric A — June 5, 2009 @ 7:36 am