Ray Oldenburg’s The Great Good Place introduced the influential idea of the “third place”—informal gathering places outside home and work where people become regulars, relationships develop, and community life takes shape. Cafés, bars, barber shops, bookstores, and similar places become essential pieces of social infrastructure.

Majora Carter argues that communities facing persistent poverty need talent-retention strategies just as businesses do. Building from her maxim that no one should have to leave their neighborhood to live in a better one, she offers an approach to community development rooted in keeping local talent and opportunity.

Bronxlandia is a cultural hub and multi-purpose live events venue located at 910 Hunts Point Avenue in the South Bronx, New York City. Created by community developers Majora Carter and James Chase, the space serves as a creative local venue addressing the borough's shortage of dedicated performance spaces.

Gwen Brown is a San Francisco community leader and co-founder and co-director of SF Black Wall Street, an organization advancing Black economic empowerment, cultural preservation, and community-building in San Francisco. Her work has included youth and workforce development, neighborhood investment, public-space activation, and creating opportunities for Black-owned businesses and entrepreneurs; she has also served on San Francisco’s African American Reparations Advisory Committee.

Majora Carter is an urban revitalization strategist, real estate developer, MacArthur Fellow, broadcaster, and author whose work focuses on creating opportunity within historically undervalued communities. Her approach connects economic development and talent retention to the belief that people should not have to leave their neighborhoods to find opportunity.

Karen Christensen is an author, publisher, and community leader whose work spans culture, sustainability, and the power of networks. As the founder of Berkshire Publishing Group, she has long championed ideas and institutions that strengthen communities. Her forthcoming book, written in collaboration with Ray Oldenburg, revisits and reimagines the concept of the “third place” for today’s world.

Rob Ready is a San Francisco theater-maker, neighborhood connector, and the kind of person who seems to know everyone. In Sidewalk Ballet’s first episode, he served as a spirit guide to the neighborhood bar as third place—demonstrating how much of city life is built through relationships.