Overview
The Third Place Index (TPI) is a comprehensive analysis of community gathering spaces across the United States. The index measures the availability of "third places"—spaces beyond home and work where people gather for social interaction, community building, and civic engagement.
About the Project
The Third Place Index was created by Evan O'Neil, a data communicator with an interest in studying belongingness and social connection through a public health lens. A portion of this project was developed as a Master's Capstone in MICA's Data Visualization program.
For questions or to discuss collaboration, contact evan@evanoneil.studio.
Process
Collect
Query 1.5M+ locations from OpenStreetMap via Overpass API using third place location types
Map
Connect each place to its census tract
Score
Calculate percentile rank (0–100) for each tract
Conceptual Framework
What is a "Third Place"?
The concept of "third places" was introduced by sociologist Ray Oldenburg in his 1989 book The Great Good Place. Third places are informal public gathering spaces that are distinct from:
- First places: Home and residential spaces
- Second places: Work and productive spaces
- Third places: Social and community spaces
Oldenburg argued that third places are essential for civil society, democracy, civic engagement, and establishing feelings of a sense of place. They provide neutral ground where people can gather and interact.
Modern Adaptation
While rooted in Oldenburg's framework, this project adapts the concept to reflect changes in societal preferences and the built environment over the 40+ years since publication. The analysis includes both traditional third places (cafes, barbershops, pubs) and modern gathering spaces (fitness centers, coworking spaces, game cafes).
Why Census Tracts?
By mapping at the census tract level, TPI data can be directly linked to U.S. Census Bureau socioeconomic data—income, education, race, age, housing—enabling research into how third place access correlates with health outcomes, economic mobility, and social cohesion.
Data Sources
OpenStreetMap via Overpass API
All 50 U.S. states plus Washington, D.C. were queried for third place locations. Data was collected state-by-state over 4 days (November 1–5, 2024) with geographic chunking for large states to manage API rate limits.
American Community Survey (ACS) 2022 - 5 Year Estimates
Census demographic data accessed through the TidyCensus R package, including total population, median household income, educational attainment, and household composition by age.
Census TIGER/Line Shapefiles (2020)
Census tract boundaries, geometries, and urban/rural classification. Tracts are classified as Urbanized Areas (50,000+ population), Urban Clusters (2,500–50,000), or Rural.
Place Type Taxonomy
The following OpenStreetMap key-value pairs were queried to identify third places, organized into four main categories:
Traditional (Food & Beverage)
- Cafes amenity=cafe
- Coffee Shops shop=coffee
- Ice Cream amenity=ice_cream
- Restaurants amenity=restaurant
- Food Courts amenity=food_court
- Bars amenity=bar
- Pubs amenity=pub
- Beer Gardens amenity=biergarten
Traditional (Retail & Services)
- Hair Salons shop=hairdresser
- Beauty Shops shop=beauty
- Bookstores shop=books
- Marketplaces amenity=marketplace
Community Spaces
- Libraries amenity=library
- Community Centers amenity=community_centre
- Social Facilities amenity=social_facility
- Places of Worship amenity=place_of_worship
- Parks leisure=park
- Public Squares place=square
- Plazas leisure=plaza
- Gardens leisure=garden
- Village Greens landuse=village_green
- Community Gardens leisure=community_garden
Cultural Venues
- Theaters amenity=theatre
- Cinemas amenity=cinema
- Arts Centers amenity=arts_centre
Modern Third Places
- Shopping Malls shop=mall
- Department Stores shop=department_store
- Fitness Centers leisure=fitness_centre
- Sports Centers leisure=sports_centre
- Gyms amenity=gym
- Coworking Spaces amenity=coworking_space
- Hackerspaces amenity=hackerspace
- Craft Workshops craft=workshop
- Amusement Arcades leisure=amusement_arcade
- Game Cafes amenity=game_cafe
- Bowling Alleys leisure=bowling_alley
- Escape Rooms leisure=escape_game
Scoring Methodology
Percentile-Based Approach
The TPI uses a percentile-based scoring approach inspired by the EPA's National Walkability Index. This methodology:
- Ranks census tracts from lowest to highest number of third places
- Converts rankings to percentile scores (0–100 scale)
- A score of 80 means the tract has more third places than 80% of all U.S. tracts
Classification-Based Indices
To address the challenge of comparing diverse community types (a rural tract may be geographically large but have few residents), separate percentile scores are calculated within each US Census Bureau designation classification: Urbanized Area, Urban Cluster, and Rural.
This allows fair comparison within similar community contexts. An urban neighborhood is compared to other urban neighborhoods; a rural community is compared to other rural communities.
Limitations & Considerations
OpenStreetMap Coverage
- Coverage varies by region
- Urban areas generally better mapped than rural
- Commercial establishments better represented than informal spaces
- May miss private clubs, informal gathering spots, temporary spaces
Census Tract Boundaries
- Large geographic variation in tract sizes
- Tracts may not align with neighborhood identities
- Boundary effects: places near edges may be far from tract residents
Definition of "Third Place"
- Subjective selection of place types
- Presence doesn't guarantee accessibility or quality
- Doesn't capture hours of operation or capacity
Percentile Scoring
- Relative measure only (not absolute access)
- Equal weighting of all place types
- Doesn't account for quality, popularity, or diversity
Equity Factors Not Captured
- Transportation access and mobility
- Economic barriers (cost of access)
- Cultural appropriateness and welcoming
- Safety and comfort
Appropriate Uses
- Identifying geographic patterns
- Comparing similar community types
- Generating hypotheses for research
- Raising awareness about community space access
Data Dictionary
Identifiers
Index Scoring
Demographics
Place Count Categories
Density
Citation & License
Suggested Citation
O'Neil, Evan. (2025). National Third Place Index: A Census Tract-Level Analysis of Community Gathering Spaces in the United States. Master's Capstone Project.
Data Sources
OpenStreetMap
OpenStreetMap contributors. (2024). Planet dump. Retrieved from https://www.openstreetmap.org
U.S. Census Bureau
U.S. Census Bureau. (2022). American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates [Data files]. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
U.S. Census Bureau. (2020). TIGER/Line Shapefiles [Data files]. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/geographies/mapping-files
License
Data: OpenStreetMap data is available under the Open Database License (ODbL). Census data is in the public domain.
Project Roadmap
Release v1.0
Launch of the Third Place Index dataset, methodology documentation, and exploratory map tool.
Seek Feedback
Gather input from users, researchers, and community advocates to improve the index.
Collaborate
Partner with journalists and researchers to explore applications and stories within the data.
Improved Scoring
Update the dataset with refined scoring metrics based on feedback and further research.
New Tool
Release an additional tool to expand how users can interact with and analyze TPI data.