I remember a Sunday last year, the whole lot of Brussels’ 19 municipalities being car free. Friends and I visited the Meininger hotel.
Business people, travellers in backpacked dorms and families alike stay over, which is part of its rapid success amongst those visiting Europe’s political capital.
Meininger is like a ‘third place‘, a dwelling that resides between a home and a public spot. Exactly what Howard Schultz had in mind when he founded Starbucks.
It’s Facebook going live with face-time, transcending the virtual connection.
‘What suburbia cries for are the means for people to gather easily, inexpensively, regularly, and pleasurably — a ‘place on the corner’, real life alternatives to television, easy escapes from the cabin fever of marriage and family life that do not necessitate getting into an automobile.’ – Ray Oldenburg, ‘The Great Good Place’
