The Café

In an urban environment that lacks the once-plentiful public spaces, there are few remaining venues for critical discussion. Town squares and plazas were once the hotbeds of civic involvement, where citizens would gather to spark the conversations of government, politics, and daily affairs. England had the pub, short for "public house," where men could not only speak freely, but could listen to the literate citizens read aloud the news of interest. In France, it was the coffee house that hosted this informal gathering, and served as an arguably more democratic space, given the [relatively] sober nature of coffee and the openness to both men and women. Skipping a great chunk of American history, we have landed ourselves now at the ideology of "caf é culture."

Cafés have spread their way around American cities in several waves of success and failure over the 20th and early-21st centuries. Unfortunately, through a warped perception of coffee's function and the design of the places which house it, many Americans today perceive cafés as spaces of either solitude or pharmacy. The former is a sight familiarly characterized by Starbucks' innovative wifi service and interior design that favors the lone blogger sipping her latté. The latter has resulted in the grab-and-go coffee fiend that makes quick runs to his coffee shop to get his fix for the next few hours. While neither is inherently detrimental to society at large, an opportunity is often missed to engage in a discussion with a stranger or catch up with a friend. And then there is third-wave coffee...

Setting aside the perceived pretentiousness and class-defining entry fare (a $4 coffee is fair for its quality but hardly inclusive), there are several wonderful things at play in these artisanal cafés. For one, waiting a few minutes for one's coffee to be made immediately slows the pace of the entire transaction, and often allows for the sort of lingering and gazing that lend themselves well to increased social interaction (even if its nonverbal). Second, some of these cafés are smartly choosing to withhold a wifi service in an effort to discourage the anti-social behavior that the Internet often pulls one into.
The emergence and popularity of communal seating in these establishments is a testament to the humanistic need for closeness and socializing. We are often so starved for public space that the opportunity for interaction-- or rather, the chance of interaction-- seen in these surrogates are met with often wild success.

While I would rather see more true public spaces in American cities, I applaud the efforts of third-wave coffee houses to create spaces of community interaction and potential civic engagement, even if it is on the smallest scale possible. It is important to remember, however, that these are not true public spaces, as are most parks, squares, and plazas,  and they are in fact emblematic of the cross-pollination of public interest and private enterprise, but perhaps this is the best we've got for now.