Should newspapers be a “third place?” In a classic work on urban design from 1988 Ray Oldenburg writes about the importance of public spaces, including bars, coffee shops, and barber shops, as well as parks and civic institutions. The third place is where you hang out with people other than your work or home.

Should newspapers transform themselves into “community journalism centers”?

I think they should. I’ve been spending a lot of time lately thinking about how to argue that libraries should be a third space for social network participants to meet and work, but newspapers could probably make this transition just as easily.

Given the right motivation, the right space, money, and leadership, I can also envision a blog like Metro I4 helping create a space for bloggers and community journalists to congregate.

Sometimes I see large empty buildings around Tampa and I think – That would be a perfect place for a re/creating tampa clubhouse; a place for local community journalists, bloggers, and other activists to hang out and learn from each other and to informally discuss the issues facing the community.