Sanvi Sinha - Week 9: The Death Of American Third Spaces
In modern America, the “third space”—or the retreat outside of home and school—is becoming an endangered species, especially for teenagers. We live in a society where almost every aspect of public life is measured by its monetary value. For high schoolers searching for somewhere to simply exist past dusk without some kind of curfew, timer, or price tag, the American environment can feel unwelcoming.
Public parks either close at sundown or are socially unacceptable for teens due to them being viewed as spaces for smaller children. The few remaining options—like suburban malls or indoor shopping centers—quickly get repetitive, offering little more than the same store windows on loop. Even there, the underlying expectation never changes: if you want to sit down or hang out, you are expected to buy a meal, rent a table, or pay your way in. Benches in commercial areas are designed with awkward dividers specifically to discourage people from lingering too long. The physical environment constantly pushes the directive of either paying or moving along.
This commercialization of space leaves a huge void in how young people connect. When there are no neutral, zero-pressure environments to gather, teenage social life gets squished smaller and smaller. Late-night hang-out spots become whatever quiet parts of the suburb that haven't been gated off yet—the curb of a Walmart parking lot, a patch of grass next to the sidewalk, or your dad’s car that you parked under the streetlights with the heat blasting.
There is a quiet resilience in those after-dark spots. In a culture that treats empty time as wasted time and views teenagers in public with subtle suspicion, occupying a space purely for the sake of conversation, shared silence, or a moment away from other aspects of life becomes a small act of defiance.
Ultimately, the scarcity of these third spaces reveals how America has prioritized commerce over human connection. The country endlessly glorifies the idea of teenage freedom, yet it designs physical environments that treat the youth like trespassers the moment they aren't spending money. If America really cared about its youth, it would provide them a space to grow up together in public, rather than forcing them to retreat into isolation.
Public parks either close at sundown or are socially unacceptable for teens due to them being viewed as spaces for smaller children. The few remaining options—like suburban malls or indoor shopping centers—quickly get repetitive, offering little more than the same store windows on loop. Even there, the underlying expectation never changes: if you want to sit down or hang out, you are expected to buy a meal, rent a table, or pay your way in. Benches in commercial areas are designed with awkward dividers specifically to discourage people from lingering too long. The physical environment constantly pushes the directive of either paying or moving along.
This commercialization of space leaves a huge void in how young people connect. When there are no neutral, zero-pressure environments to gather, teenage social life gets squished smaller and smaller. Late-night hang-out spots become whatever quiet parts of the suburb that haven't been gated off yet—the curb of a Walmart parking lot, a patch of grass next to the sidewalk, or your dad’s car that you parked under the streetlights with the heat blasting.
There is a quiet resilience in those after-dark spots. In a culture that treats empty time as wasted time and views teenagers in public with subtle suspicion, occupying a space purely for the sake of conversation, shared silence, or a moment away from other aspects of life becomes a small act of defiance.
Ultimately, the scarcity of these third spaces reveals how America has prioritized commerce over human connection. The country endlessly glorifies the idea of teenage freedom, yet it designs physical environments that treat the youth like trespassers the moment they aren't spending money. If America really cared about its youth, it would provide them a space to grow up together in public, rather than forcing them to retreat into isolation.
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| Park (Third Space) |
Hi Sanvi! I love this blog, I think it touches on such an important topic. Honestly, I thought this quarter's topic of “Language and America” would be full of politics, but I really enjoyed reading your spin on the theme. I think another important aspect of the loss of third spaces is the crazy digitization that happened in our generation, where almost every kid over the age of 13 has the whole world on a tiny rectangular machine. I think these new after-dark spots are definitely great places to hangout, and they could be interpreted as the younger generation's way of trying to gain some of their freedoms back as much as an act of defiance. With the immense amount of commodification happening to so many areas of our lives that should not be commercialized, there should be spaces available to teens and older kids as the other option is keeping them cooped up in their rooms all day. I think it’s also interesting how when teens do hangout at public third spaces, such as parks or stores, they are often seen as a disturbance to the community. Hopefully with a new generation coming in to make decisions about urban planning and youth engagement, we will also see an increase in third spaces.
ReplyDeleteHi Sanvi! I really liked the way you put these ideas into words. I agree with the idea of creating more spaces to hangout for teenagers. I feel like teenagers are unable to hangout in public spaces alone or after-dark due to the concern of attacks from the homeless and drug addicts. I noticed that this issue is less prevalent in other countries such as China; during my visit a few years ago, I remember seeing groups of friends aged around 9-19 walking around the streets at 12 AM. I feel like the night markets in cities open up communities and allow people to hangout whenever.
ReplyDeleteI also recently visited Canada, and was quite shocked to see children and teenagers aged from 7 to 18 fishing in the rivers or going on motorboats without parent supervision. I felt a little envious to see that children of other countries were able to hangout on public spaces and experience these types of memories. I feel like the many roads in suburban America make it hard for people to walk around freely.
In relation to the commercialization of spaces, I remember seeing videos of anti-homeless benches which made me kind of sad because it suggested that the American government prioritizes the discomfort of homeless people other than the prevention of homelessness in general.
Hi Sanvi, I really enjoyed your blog because usually, when I think of the quarterly theme: “America,” I think about politics, and as evidenced by the blogs in our blogging cohort for this week, we can see that so did the majority of our peers. But politics are not really my thing, and I am glad to see that your blog was on such a contrasting topic. I have never thought about these “third spaces” growing less day by day, but instead we are growing out of it, usually because it shows that we have too much free time; this is usually taken negatively because it shows that we are not using our time to complete something efficiently and instead being lazy. I think that whenever I do go to the park, though, I tend to stay for a while because it brings me a lot of nostalgia. When I was younger, before I moved to Fremont in 5th grade, I would go out every day in front of my house to play with my neighbors until dark, not even coming home for a glass of water because I was afraid that my mom wouldn’t let me go back out. I never missed a day if I was home. We played the dumbest games, but had the greatest time of our lives every single day. Sometimes those “lazy” hangouts now are even more fun than getting dressed up to go out to eat or to the mall because of this nostalgia and the stress-free environment. Or lingering in the parking lot with my friends after a party. Those moments remind me of when I was a kid, with no worries in the world, because I am in a nonjudgmental space; being vulnerable is exactly where connections form and grow.
ReplyDeleteAt the same time, seeing teens as I pass by, lingering in a parking lot or a park after dark, does feel a little shady, and that plays a major role in why these connections are often cut short. I never realized your point about benches purposefully being designed with awkward dividers to prevent people from sitting for extended periods, but I think my subconscious did, because even if my friends sit, I always prefer to stand.
I really hope all of us can find our inner child and hold onto it, and don’t forget to relax and have fun as societal expectations pressure each of us more and more the older we get.
Hello Sanvi! Your blog covers a topic that I believe is neglected although it is immensely influential on our lives as teenagers and it uses a varied punctuation, keeping your blog engaging. I never realized what I was missing in my own life was a consistent third space that is not looking for something from me, and I appreciate you shining a light on this. Physical locations acting as a third space for many teens seem to—unfortunately—be slowly getting replaced by social media. This is a massive issue, and I fear if we do nothing about it, our third spaces may go extinct. Thankfully, at least for now, as you pointed out, we can still rebel against losing these spaces by finding, occupying, and simply hanging out in whichever spaces still allow teenagers to be teenagers.
ReplyDeleteAmerica really does not care about its youth anymore. America shows this by prioritizing profits over many teenagers’ wishes to have a public area where they can relax without having to worry about suspicious glances coming their way, staying healthy, existing on the internet without the worry of being watched constantly. Big tobacco companies have begun blatantly advertising and selling their products to minors, and the American government simply does not respect teenagers enough to properly account for this. Social media companies push algorithms that keep people, especially dopamine-craving teenagers hooked on their phones while the companies gather and sell all their data and lifestyle choices without having to worry about the American government making an attempt to protect the privacy of these teenagers. Hopefully, we see a shift in American leadership, a shift towards a new government that truly cares for the young people of the country.
At the end of the school year or during minimum days, I like going out with my friends after school. Oftentimes, we will stay in the area, only going as far as Artist’s Walk or Sujus. Crowds are usually horrible, with students all going to the same places. While the number of students attending our school is frankly enormous, it still is the case that snack restaurants for students to hang out at, or even just general third spaces, cannot sustain the amount of children attending schools. It seems to be even worse by Washington, with nearby businesses being incompatible for groups of teenage friends to hang out at.
ReplyDeleteWhile it’s not completely related, your blog on third spaces reminds me of how bathrooms are becoming harder to access. When people are about to pee their pants, they are unable to access bathrooms of establishments; they need to instead buy something and get a door code, or maybe they need to pay with coins that they might not even have. Public amenities in general, I find, tend to be extremely lacking. Benches for people to sit down at, trash cans to prevent littering: they’re all way too scarce for public comfort.
Commerce has created an emphasis on businesses taking up all the locations and not providing enough general amenities for people to manage at. Go outside, ride your bike, but what do you do when you get tired?