The Great Good Place

The landmark survey that celebrates all the places where people hang out--and is helping to spawn their revival A New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice "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 th4ese great good places--coffee houses, cafes, 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 establishments and proudly acknowledging their indebtedness to this book.

Nationwide, more and more entrepreneurs are committing themselves to creating and running "third places," also known as "great good places." In his landmark work, The Great Good Place, Ray Oldenburg identified, portrayed, and promoted those third places. Now, more than ten years after the original publication of that book, the time has come to celebrate the many third places that dot the American landscape and foster civic life. With 20 black-and-white photographs, Celebrating the Third Place brings together fifteen firsthand accounts by proprietors of third places, as well as appreciations by fans who have made spending time at these hangouts a regular part of their lives. Among the establishments profiled are a shopping center in Seattle, a three-hundred-year-old tavern in Washington, D.C., a garden shop in Amherst, Massachusetts, a coffeehouse in Raleigh, North Carolina, a bookstore in Traverse City, Michigan, and a restaurant in San Francisco.

Cover -- Half Title -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Foreword A Better View of Motivation -- Introduction A Great Place to Work For All -- PART ONE Better for Business -- Chapter 1 More Revenue, More Profit -- Chapter 2 A New Business Frontier -- Chapter 3 How to Succeed in the New Business Frontier -- Chapter 4 Maximizing Human Potential Accelerates Performance -- PART TWO Better for People, Better for the World -- Chapter 5 When the Workplace Works For Everyone -- Chapter 6 Better Business for a Better World -- PART THREE The For All Leadership Call -- Chapter 7 Leading to a Great Place to Work For All -- Chapter 8 The For All Rocket Ship -- Notes -- Thanks -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- Z -- About Us -- Authors

A look at informal gathering places--coffe shops, community centers, beauty parlors, general stores, bars and others. The author considers their importance to our communities and the reasons for their gradual disappearance.

Describes informal meeting places around the world, looks at how each reflects its culture, and argues that suburbs are leading to their decline.

Dane picked out of his dim past a dozen halting similes. The sacred silent convent was one; another was the bright country-house. He did the place no outrage to liken it to an hotel; he permitted himself on occasion to feel it suggest a club. Such images, however, but flickered and went out--they lasted only long enough to light up the difference. An hotel without noise, a club without newspapers--when he turned his face to what it was "without" the view opened wide.

The Joy of Tippling is a toast to the importance of drinking together, crafted by the ultimate tippler. Like Ray Oldenburg’s bestselling The Great Good Place, in which he coined the now-famous term “third places,” his latest book is packed with factual information, humor and wit, personal insights, and sound sociological observations. The Joy of Tippling is a celebration of third places, and a call to community. Ray Oldenburg is known internationally for his book The Great Good Place: Cafes, Coffee Shops, Bookstores, Bars, Hair Salons, and Other Hangouts at the Heart of a Community, which appeared in 1989 and is presently in its third edition. He is coauthoring a fourth edition with Karen Christensen.

Refreshingly approachable guide for aspiring backpackers and casual hikers of all stripes Colorful and humorous illustrations throughout Relatable, rising female voice in outdoor literature Part critique of modern hiking culture and part how-to guide, How to Suffer Outside is for anyone who wants to hit the trail without breaking the bank. Diana Helmuth offers real advice, opinionated but accessible and based on in-the-field experiences. She wins readers’ hearts and trust through a blend of self-deprecating humor and good-natured heckling of both seasoned backpackers and urbanites who romanticize being outdoorsy, plus a helpful dose of the actual advice a novice needs to get started. Featuring illustrations by artist Latasha Dunston, each chapter focuses on a critical topic: gear, food, hygiene, clothing, and more, along with useful checklists and resources. Humorous, philosophical, and practical, How to Suffer Outside teaches casual walkers, hikers, and campers of all stripes how to venture outdoors with confidence.