The third Spaces project
What happened to the commons?
It feels like the commons are shrinking. Third spaces, or shared gathering spots outside of home or work, have declined in recent years due to underfunding, privatization, and increasing cost barriers.
Meanwhile, gentrification and globalized monoculture have pushed out independent music and book stores, mom & pop businesses, and other community fixtures, replacing them with generic non-places like chain stories, Airbnb rentals, WeWorks, and luxury apartment complexes that lack social meaning.
Add in bad urban planning that reduces walkability and limits access to green spaces, and you have a recipe for solitary living. It’s no wonder people can’t stop talking about the “loneliness epidemic.”
Boston revives the lost art of hanging with your neighbors
Nate Lash, who works with the City of Boston to build and “activate” public spaces like street plazas, says that third spaces are simply places to hang out in public. Lash says that third spaces increase social connection and community cohesion, improve mental and physical health, and support the local economy.
As the city’s official Public Realm Manager, Lash works to transform underutilized spaces through street furniture, planters, murals, and more. Edgerley Plaza, for example, was once a strip of asphalt in front of a Whole Foods, and is now a public gathering space.
“It’s become a living room for the community,” Lash says. “There are folks who go out there and read almost every single day. Students from Berklee will perform live music, and someone’s been organizing vintage markets.”
Beyond official city programs, there is a growing movement of people working to build gathering spaces that prioritize human connection over profitability.
Episode 1: The leland street community garden
no individual plots. no gate. anyone is welcome to harvest food or to pitch in on community work days.