Sociologists say that everybody has three places in their life; the place where they live, the place where they work, and the place where they hang out. 

 

These "third places" are the village square, the general store, the neighborhood bar, the coffee shop or café .  They are the places where we meet our friends, talk art (my favorite) or current events, trade gossip, have coffee or hoist a beer, have a sandwich or a dinner.  They are the places where you are only a newcomer once if you smile, find out the server's name, find out what's good and what's going on. Seattle has a lot of them.  Every neighborhood that I frequent has at least one and finding the neighborhood hangout is high on my agenda when we travel.  I love them.