When Third Places Come First
PPS Board member Ron Sher is leading the charge to create "third places" in the Northwest.
Ron Sher doesn't fit the ruthless developer stereotype. As a member of PPS's Board of Directors, Sher was instrumental in organizing February's Placemaking conference in Seattle. And as CEO of the Third Place Company he has devoted himself to creating retail places that foster community and change neighborhoods. How? By converting declining malls into thriving mixed-use centers with local businesses, community institutions, and common spaces that offer free activities and events.
 Giant chessboards are a popular staple of Sher's developments.Don't get the wrong idea -- Sher's Third Place developments still turn a profit. But their success is measured by indicators other than money. Take Third Place Books and Commons in Lake Forest Park, Washington. Here, sales volume takes a backseat to less tangible things, like the liveliness of the conversation at book discussions.
Without these conversations, it's hard to have a true democracy.
As you may have noticed from the names of his developments (there is another Third Place Books in Ravenna, Washington), Sher is passionate about "third places," the phrase Ray Oldenburg coined to describe social gathering spaces outside the home and the workplace. The Seattle Times' Sherry Stripling recently spoke to Sher about his belief in the ability of third places to create a more open society and foster conversation between people who hold opposing views. We are pleased to reprint an excerpt of her story below.
...Without these conversations, it's hard to have a true democracy, says Ron Sher, who has been lauded by customers and by Oldenburg for creating common space in his developments — Crossroads in Bellevue, Third Place Books and Commons at Lake Forest Park, and Third Place Books in Ravenna. All three invite people to linger for chess, music and book discussions.
The concept is called "place making" and Sher is on the national board of the Project for Public Spaces, which will bring a group together in Seattle next year to plan a larger, public conference here for 2006 or 2007.
Environmentalists are among those interested, Sher says, because they believe one of the best ways to prevent sprawl is to make cities friendlier places to live.
And why is it important for democracy?
Just look at the polarization of Republicans and Democrats on a whole range of social issues, says [Mara] Adelman, an associate professor in Seattle University's Department of Communication.
She's studied the benefits of "weak ties" — the people you meet regularly at the dog park, the coffee shop, the bus stop.
The "strong ties" in our lives — family, friends, workmates — tend to be "birds of a feather," Adelman says. They have certain expectations of how we'll think or behave. The "weak ties" provide freedom of self-expression to test out new ideas — "and then you get to say good night and go home."
Without third places, she says, "you can't get into the gray areas and complexity."
Read the full story: Conversation starters: "Third places" provide havens for diverse discussion.
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