The Great Good Place II (pre-order)

In The Great Good Place II, Karen Christensen and Ray Oldenburg (1932-2022) show how third places have a vital role to play in solving climate change, loneliness, and political polarization, and making us healthier and happier. Explore real-life examples from around the world: bars and bistros, taquerias and teahouses, stoops and saunas, and much more. The authors delve into practical design and economic issues, encouraging readers to create and nurture the special places where, as the song goes, everyone knows your name. This book is a sequel and companion to Ray Oldenburg’s influential 1989 book, in which he coined the term “third place,” written by his long-time correspondent Karen Christensen with many contributions from Oldenburg himself.

The Great Good Place II is divided into four sections. The first section explains how Ray Oldenburg first identified “third places” and how the term came to be used and interpreted by planners, placemakers, architects, urbanists, developers, social activists, and religious leaders. Christensen details how it was spread around the world by library associations and technology professionals, and applied indiscriminately to a surprising variety of places and platforms. Section two is an extensively updated survey of the ways we benefit from third places, and Part 3 looks at the traditional third places Oldenburg discussed along with an array of international variations. In the final section, Christensen has added completely new practical material about the design, cultivation, and nurture of third places, as well as responding to questions about cost and affordability and how third places fit into contemporary city and town design.

For podcasts, videos, and much more about the original book (which is still available in print and as an ebook), as well as material from this sequel, visit greatgoodplace.org.

Karen Christensen grew up in the Santa Clara (Silicon) Valley and has lived in London and New York City. She was the senior editor of the 4-volume SAGE Encyclopedia of Community (“Incredibly, this is the first encyclopedia to focus on community as concept and experience. Essential for all readerships.” –CHOICE) and is the author of popular environmental books, which have been translated into French, German, Swedish, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Thai.

Ray Oldenburg (1932-2022) was a professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of West Florida in Pensacola. He is known internationally for his book The Great Good Place, a surprise hit when it first appeared in 1989. He advised cities including San Jose, Stockholm, and Osaka on community development, and often hosted friends in his own “third place,” a converted garage saloon. His latest and last book was The Joy of Tippling.