Episode 22: Rik Adamski (Storefront Renaissance League) — Can You Create a Third Place?

Can you actually create a third place — or can you only create the conditions that allow one to emerge?

Naomi sits down with Rik Adamski, president of Ash+Lime and co-founder of the Storefront Renaissance League, to talk about the everyday places where people gather — cafés, bookstores, bars, shops, and sometimes places you would never expect.

Rik explains why third places have become harder to sustain, from rising costs and changing business models to phones and new social habits. He argues that the best ones depend on much more than design: the owners and staff who know your name, the regulars who connect people, and a business model that allows the place to stay open long enough for routines and relationships to form.

Naomi and Rik also explore why hybrid places like bookstore-café-bars may be part of the answer, why older inexpensive buildings give local businesses room to experiment, why a McDonald's can sometimes function as a real third place, and why improving a neighborhood can begin with something as simple as cleaning up one block.

In this episode:
- Can a third place be created, or only the conditions for one?
- Why third places are becoming harder to sustain
- The people who turn a business into a social place
- Why hybrid third places may have a better chance of surviving
- What a Belonging Index can measure — and what it cannot
- Why unexpected places can become community hubs
- Why older, inexpensive buildings matter for local businesses
- What teenagers need from a third place
- Why small actions can sometimes matter more than big plans

A conversation about third places, local businesses, and the conditions that help community happen.

Realtopia is hosted by Naomi Cohen.