Yes, that's what I'm talking about. Those groups are all trying to figure out how to attract people. Such groups are found all over the place, with a small group of people desperately trying to make something of them, but are all struggling to establish a community.
The outcome I see over and over again is that the dedicated few end up taking the club/organization/group on as a job and plan one or two events each year that brings out the larger community. And it works for one night only, but then people go back to living their lives and the dedicated few get back to work to make it happen again next year.
The problem is that these people don't really want a job. The hard work is just the only avenue they see to support their dream of building the community they want to exist in. But it's a struggle because there is so much competition for one's time.
I posit that there are too many third spaces that have spread too thin and as they become thin it becomes less likely that anyone else wants to become a member of their community. Nobody wants to sit alone. If the bowling club, ladies auxiliary, church, etc. came together there would be a better chance of a community starting to build, but that would mean letting go of competing interests and in a world that has become accustomed to never ending choice that is a hard pill to swallow.
Maybe that's what people say. Their actions show other preferences though - most people choose to mindlessly either channel-surf their TV or scroll their phones in free time. Unfortunately, human brain is inherently lazy and will usually go for the easiest option, especially when one is tired (e.g. in the evening after work). I don't see community spaces ever coming back to become a thing again.
We're talking about third spaces. People will definitely sit alone in their first space quite happily. They will not sit alone at the bowling alley or at church, however. These communities require a sufficient population of members to be compelling.
> I don't see community spaces ever coming back to become a thing again.
Or perhaps the once-a-year events I spoke of earlier are simply the evolution of third spaces? The people absolutely come out to them, and there are many throughout the year so an individual is never short of a community event to involve themselves in. In that sense the community spaces have never gone away. You no longer find the specificity like "I'm in a bowling club. That's what I do." it is more like "I am going to the bowing event this week, the church event next week, the ladies auxiliary the next night..."
My point was - if there was indeed a need to create such spaces, they'd be there in spades. But, reality is, people are just happy to sit alone in their houses now, so the community spaces don't get created. It was already observed in villages in Poland in the 1970s. Before that time, people were meeting each other in the evenings, as there was nothing better to do. After roughly 1970, most people got TV, and in the evenings streets became empty and you could see a TV glow through each house's window. Now, with Internet and social media, it's even worse.
My father is getting up there in terms of age, and hangs out with his buddies every single day after 'work time' (most of them don't work). They go to each others garage, hang out, have a beer, watch you tube, talk about nothing.
If your buds were all within walking distance you might find yourself in the same position, as I gather would most people.
Go to a country where modern culture has not taken over and you see the same.
I guess because they are all far removed from the needs of younger generations. The church for obvious reasons, greasy diner because people want healthy food options. Bowling still seems kind of popular but mostly with families.
We need new community spaces that match the needs of new generations. I'm not sure I have the answer for what they are, but maybe a place that does good food and has areas for hosting whatever events and workshops people want to put on? Or maker/hacker/art spaces?
Besides that, we need to reorganize our society so that people have some free time and financial security while working a reasonable number of hours, even for entry level and low skill jobs.
If everyone is stressing about their financials and has no spare money/time to enjoy life, find friends, and pursue hobbies, then I'm afraid we live in a kind of low-level dystopia and no amount of "3rd spaces" will fix that.
That's probably the need right there. The younger generations are off spending their time carting their kids around from sports league to dance class to who knows what. They don't have time for anything else. In the age of "my kids must do everything to outcompete the other kids", that becomes one's life.
You see a short window between leaving college (which brings its own community) and starting a family where the young ones join these communities, but it is indeed short lived once family starts to overwhelm them.
Those children activities do provide a community of sorts for the parents, but it's also a little more insular as unless you have kids that are involved you're not really welcome into those communities and likely would feel out of place even if you were welcomed not having what everyone else is bonding over.
Notably a lot of restaurants/cafes used to be '3rd spaces' - but they've often been replaced with corporatized chains. Starbucks, funny enough effectively 'brands' their cafes as '3rd spaces' with the comfy chairs etc. but they are in reality, not really 3rd spaces. Just the 'feeling and appearance' of it.
In my local suburban Starbucks there are little 'cheerful sticky notes' ostensibly written by community members, alas, they are not. They are mostly the same handwriting; the little bits of 'cheer' were handed down to the manager from corporate HQ, to be 'passed off as' community notes, so as to substitute for the sentiment of the local folks, who obviously can't be trusted to be 'on brand'. I find that a deeply cynical form of 'marketing'.