Third places, or great good places, are the many public places where people can gather, put aside the concerns of home and work [their first and second places], and hang out simply for the pleasures of good company and lively conversation. They are the heart of a community's social vitality and the grassroots of a democracy. Author Ray Oldenburg portrays, probes, and promotes these great good places-coffee houses, cafés, bookstores, hair salons, bars, bistros, and many others both past and present-and offers a vision for their revitalization.

Eloquent and visionary, this is a compelling argument for these settings of informal public life as essential for the health both of our communities and ourselves. And its message is being heard: Today, entrepreneurs from Seattle to Florida are heeding the call of The Great Good Place-opening coffee houses, bookstores, community centers, bars and other establishment and proudly acknowledging their indebtedness to this book.