The Third Space Is Evolving So What Comes Next?

We were promised a world where spontaneity and connection seemed like the norm – spawned in spaces where you felt welcome to talk to strangers, to dance on the dancefloor, to remember your neighbor’s name. But the way we connect has evolved over the past decade. And more recently, have completely shifted third spaces as we know it.

As the cost of living rises, connection has become influenced by external factors that stopped us from popping up on friends unannounced and into curated events and ticketed experiences. 

These three elements – people, places and possibilities – hold something deeper below the surface.

Though it feels like we have more options for connection than ever, data from a 2025 American Psychological Association survey found more than half of U.S. adults reported feeling isolated (54%), left out (50%), or lonely (50%). Nearly 70% said they received less emotional support than they needed, up from 65% 2024. 

Third spaces, external places outside of work and home that people can gather and just be, have historically helped offset these feelings by being a reliable in-person meeting place for community. However, rising living and business costs like inflation, compounded by technological advances like AI, add more fuel to an already growing loneliness epidemic as we prop up a new era of connection. 

As Kela Lester, founder of thrdspc, puts it: "Access is the difference between a community that grows and one that gets replaced. Affordability determines what the community becomes.”

What replaced them is a more fragmented reality mirroring our current approach to gathering and forming new connections – pop-ups that come and as fast as they go, digital communities on platforms that manufacture the feeling of belonging without permanence, and activations built more for content than for connection. 

But something else emerged from that disruption – a new model, built on interdependence. As rising costs pushed people and places toward one another, a quiet ecosystem took shape: curators bringing audiences to spaces that need foot traffic, spaces providing the reliability that people need to gather, and events creating the conditions for connection and capital that used to happen organically.  

Third spaces have also expanded beyond the physical. Digital communities, virtual gatherings, and online platforms have become extensions of ourselves and how we gather.

thrdspc is a product of this environment. From weekly neighborhood movie nights and citywide festivals to intimate gatherings, a majority of thrdspc programs are free and open to the public, grounded in the belief that connection, resilience, and the deeply human need to be with one another are non-negotiable — regardless of what the format looks like.

“Our theory is that financial sustainability can still flow back toward the communities it was meant to serve while also supporting the small businesses and practitioners who help keep the ecosystems going,” Lester shared.

We can all participate in keeping this ecosystem alive – a small business that opens its doors for an event, the curator who builds programming with access in mind, the community member who shows up, spends money locally, and brings a friend. 

Sustainability and accessibility don't have to be in opposition, but they do require more intention to hold together as multiple outlets compete for our attention

To thrdspc, at its best, a third space is where people, places, and possibilities meet – where connection is revered and isn't extracted.

While we may not have all the answers, thrdpsc can serve as an in-between: a space for honest questions about where our communities are heading, a profile of pioneers heading into the unknown, and an incubator for new ideas for connection.

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