The replacement of a third place with a really (really) big first place

According to Oldenburg’s reading The Great Good Place we are in search of a “quest for community”. American’s today are isolating themselves in elaborate suburban homes, typically these suburban lifestyles do not inhibit a sense of community and in turn a reclusive identity is forming with residents of these suburbs.

One can debate that the bigger home an individual owns (their first place), the less they rely on a community place for fulfillment. The example of this home in Waxhaw, North Carolina demonstrates how it and the community around it compensates for the loss of an adequate third place.

Does a big house in the ‘burbs’ fill the void of missing third places?

Waxhaw, North Carolina is an affluent suburb south east of Charlotte. Up until a decade ago, this area was mostly cow pastures and corn fields but the rapid growth of Charlotte as a whole made developing this area desirable by many.

Waxhaw, NC is a S.E. suburb of Charlotte.

While developed suburban neighborhoods have been popping up around this area for years, other communal necessities are slow to follow. Grocery stores and gas stations are typically the first retail developments in this area, and later on chain restaurants, and retail shopping follows.

As I observe homes while driving through Waxhaw, NC each home looks much larger than a home inside the I-485 loop of Charlotte. It’s easy to believe a typical Waxhaw home to have at least 5 bedrooms, large open spaces, a half acre fenced in lot, and great landscaping. The vast home space could(and is) be used as an alternative as a third space.

A pool room invites guests to the home with an opportunity to communicate over a match.

For instance, while in the home pictured above I noticed many areas to invite others to create conversation. This home has an area to play a game of pool, a sitting lounge, and a big backyard patio. These areas are all identifiable characters of a third place, and can aide in escaping the stress involved with daily life.

This formal sitting area promotes conversation with all parties.

Using a really (really) big house as a third place has benefits to people in communities where a third place is not an accessible option, however it lacks being a leveler, meaning “reducing all men to an equality”. Simply stated, using your own home as a third place could not seem equally inviting for every patron entering your property.

The back patio can help to promote the image of a third place in a home.

For instance, at this home, a patron who is not familiar with a formal sitting room might feel intimidated in this space. It is full of expensive furniture, art work, and other decor, it could leave the patron anxious for an escape if they are not accustomed to this type of environment.

This lack of neutral ground is also present with the pool table gaming area. It should be obvious that if someone with a pool table of their own challenges you to a game, they are most likely good at that game. If the challenged opponent is not as familiar with the game, it could limit informal relations among guests. The neutrality of the playing field is compromised by the ownership of the pool table inside of the home.

In conclusion, using a really (really) big home as a third place is a compromise of space. In a bind it can be used, but this should be done sparingly. Public engagement in traditional forms is always recommended and encouraged over using personal space as a third place.

Birkdale Village: An example of modernizing American suburbs

Birkdale Village is a live work community north of Charlotte in the city of Huntersville. It allows residents easy access to shopping, dining, and entertainment just a short walk from their home. In correlation with Kunstler’s TED talk It aligns to his theory of less reliance on the automobile and a resurgence of the public space. Specifically it aligns suburban American sprawl more to the European city public space rather than our traditional models.

This place mark symbolized the center of Birkdale Village.

The space is set up with a village center, and a place mark is used to symbolize the focal point of the space. The buildings closest to this space are densely packed with shopping spaces on the first floor, offices on the second floor, and residential apartments on every other floor. As you move further away from the Birkdale Village center, the density of buildings opens up. Looking past the village center one can notice apartment homes become townhomes, then they transition into single family homes. The same is said for the retail sector, as a cluster of retail stores opens up to a Walgreen’s, and lastly, a mosaic movie theatre furthest away from Birkdale Village’s center.

The residential area is tucked away behind the main thoroughfare, and has limited access to the village center and retail area of Birkdale. There are other roads to access the residential areas outside of the main thoroughfare, however I think this is done to prevent people who do not live in Birkdale Village from parking or loitering in the residential area. It also helps residents avoid the distractions associated with retail shopping and allow a somewhat normal suburban feel of their home.

These townhomes are situated on one of the roads into the residential community associated with Birkdale Village.

Turn off the access street to Birkdale Village onto a side street and you enter modern American Suburbia.

There is a tree scape that is a natural canopy over the streets, while studying this space I could visualize the trees lit up for the Christmas Holiday or lush and green during the summer months, which helps beautify the public space. The roads are even designed to make you feel like you’re in a different time period. Red brick is used in many places to symbolize the brick roads of London, and the design of the buildings reminds me of a street in Pimlico a neighborhood of London.

Birkdale Village closely resembles the streets of Pimlico, UK.

A typical Pimlico street scape.

To find your way throughout the mixed use space of Birkdale Village the developer strategically placed directories throughout the dense retail space, allowing residents and visitors alike to gather their bearings and head to their destination with ease.

The Directory in Birkdale Village is easily accessible and helps guide people to their destination.

Birkdale Village is a suburban area which developed it’s space to allow residents walking access to a variety of activities. It is designed to give residents a feeling of self sufficiency that we hardly see in American suburbs. It is a model that this writer hopes will prosper in American (re)development and should be considered by developers as a model to strive for to help with dependency on cheap oil.