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Header – Andytown Coffee Roasters have a number of locations in NorCal, but none make as good a hang-out spot as their Salesforce Park location
Loneliness is no small issue. Though the feeling is not inherently physical, the effects it has on those that experience it are, increasing the chances of experiencing a broad range of maladies both physical and mental. While various proposals have been made in attempts to address the crisis, few have proved as effective as that of building, growing, and strengthening communities. A direct relationship between one's sense of community and feelings of loneliness has been suggested (with evidence).
The idea of "third places," pioneered by Ray Oldenburg in his initial research paper "The Third Place" and his highly influential book The Great Good Place, is that in addition to the two traditionally discussed "places" we have (home, which provides comfort or security and work which provides meaning), we need a "third place" which provides social support and community.
Cafes have been the quintessential examples of the "third place" since the release of The Great Good Place (even making an appearance in the book's subtitle), a designation which has been pivotal in their development in the last few decades. Cafes hold the seemingly oxymoronic, unique combination of properties that is being both not explicitly social but also inevitably so. This pairing alleviates the pressure on patrons to force interaction while allowing the location itself to facilitate it.
So people are lonely, communities fight loneliness, and cafes provide community, is this not the perfect solution? Of course, no one is claiming communities will "fix" loneliness or cafes will provide everyone with community, but maybe they can be an effective next step in this age-old fight?
Above – If you ever find yourself in Seattle's University District and want a challenge, try finding Café Allegro nestled in the small alley between a pizza restaurant and a bookstore, which was not only Seattle's first espresso bar but also played a pivotal role in the development of the Seattle-founded Starbucks, who's founders went to USF. If that proves too easy, try finding their second floor behind an unmarked door elsewhere in the alley!
The first thing to know about the coffee shop is that it was never about the coffee.
Since the 16th century, the date of the first recorded mention of a coffeehouse, the beverage itself was secondary to the atmosphere and social scene. A foil to the time's pubs, bars, and alehouses, the cafe became known as the "Penny University" for the intellectual discussions had there and social equality their patrons shared in (that is, their male patrons).
In France cafes became meccas for the French Enlightenment, in England they became social offices as businesses were planned, founded, and run in coffee houses, while in America they became partisan meeting places for both sides during the revolution. Later, coffeehouses in the US metamorphosed into centers for the arts and folk music.
At no point in the history of the coffee shop was coffee itself much more than an excuse to bring people together, just as alcohol is to the bar.
Above – The Glitch in Lower March, London serves pastries in the morning, cocktails at night, and coffee always. It also acts as the venue for a myriad of community events and holds an entrance to The VAULTS immersive theater (theatre?)
Through its own history, Starbucks has branded itself as the modern "third place." This want to build community has been credited as one of the biggest driving forces in the corporation's success, but in the over three decades since it first described itself as a "third place," much has changed.
Community is great for building a positive reputation and creating genuine connection to the stores, but can get in the way when profit maximization and efficiency become the only goal. In recent years Starbucks has made conscious efforts to kill community (or in their words, bring the physical community to a feeling one gets when ordering through the app and drinking their coffee) – stores across the world have taken a variety of steps towards limiting customer time spent inside including blocking outlets, turning off wifi, or removing seating entirely. Where Starbucks baristas used to be known to occasionally doodle on cups as a form of expression or for certain customers, providing extra personality to the chain, the company now requires employees doodle or write messages on cups, substituting true personality for corporate PR.
The biggest problem that Starbucks has, though, is that they're missing the forest for the trees. Starbucks is trying to maximize efficiency by removing everything they don't see as an integral part of their identity. This "fat-trimming" has led them to focus more on the coffee and less on what surrounds it, but it was never about the coffee.
Above – I would not have waited in line for so long at Starbucks Reserve if I knew this small and unremarkable drink in a plastic cup would be $14
It's easy to see a desocialized Starbucks as a sign of an increasingly desocialized society, but others have taken the opportunity to step up and make third places even more integrated into local communities.
Cafes like Bonsai Coffee Bar and Good People Coffee (who happen to be neighbors and two of my all time favorite coffee shops) in Los Angeles or Neighbor's Corner and Wooden Coffeehouse in San Francisco are at the forefront of this subtle "cafe revolution". Each social hub overflows with personality and is never lacking in lively conversation to be had and friends to be made. Community events like comedy nights and hobby meetups happen all the time and Bonsai even turns into a cocktail bar after 5:00 (a strategy which more and more cafes are adopting as high and increasing city rent forces businesses to use the most of their space, though that's a conversation for another time).
Above – Good People's events board is always full and doesn't even include all the recurring weekly happenings
To be clear, cafes are not the solution to what has been dubbed "the loneliness epidemic," rather, cafes are but one possible vector through which communities can be founded upon and woven together. Places such as these should be seen as the archetype other community centers can be crafted in the image of.
Above – Sodoi Coffee Tasting House in Berkley has built a gallery of doodled-on single-use cups
Sources
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