Freedom is wonderful because you can go out and build what you want to see more of in the world. Chances are, if you're missing "third places" in your life, then other people are. Or, just as likely, there is a reason you gave it up, and maybe you weren't aware of the trade-offs at the time, and now it's time to correct it. Universities are (somewhat) unique in that they are microcosms, with very central control over a relatively small population. But the public, the world at large, is far more chaotic and free.

The problem is, as usual, a fundamentally corrupt justice system that serves only the parochial, low-intelligence, low-curiosity instincts of it's law enforcement officers ("that don't look right. Time to put a stop to it, and if they don't stop I'll beat and arrest them under one of the many pretexts available to me." Lots of things don't look right when your IQ is 90.) Time, of course, is the enemy, since the court defaults to "no". The court is not interested in speeding anything up. Ever.

Still, scrappy entrepreneurs hanging a shingle and offering a "third place" for profit are somewhat respected by the establishment. Hence 3rd wave coffee shops with live music, microbreweries, and so on. Otherwise the need to keep a low profile with physical exploration puts a serious damper on real world experimentation, much to the detriment of society as a whole. This is, perhaps, the most positive light in which to see the conservative side of the gun debate: if dying kids isn't enough to motivate gun control, then its also not enough to prevent them from launching rockets or mixing up explosives in their kitchen for fun, or working on cars in their front-yards. At least if they die doing one of those things, they'll die happy. And if they don't die, they'll know something about the world.

I think the availability and type of "3rd places" largely depends on where you live. I live in Denver and a buddy of mine lives in Miami, both cities I would consider pretty high on the amount "3rd places"; however, they reach this stat in very very different ways.

Denver is a very outdoor oriented place, so most of our "3rd places" are literally carved into nature. Pick just about any outdoor sport here, and there will be a group that will happily take you in. Even if you aren't in a group there's a certain community all around liking to go outside. We also have a ton of other "3rd places" like Microbreweries, bars, etc.

Miami is a very different place, very very different. I visited my friend there and the culture I got at least was that people just liked to party. The clubs there would open at 10:30PM and close Noon the next day. Overall very fun place, part of the fun was seeing just how different people were. The folks I met there couldn't believe that I didn't find clubs all that fun and I couldn't believe that they didn't find hiking and camping fun. There was this mutual respect there that we were just very different people and sorted ourselves appropriately.

I totally understand the feeling if you live outside of these areas that have a ton of "3rd places" where options like this might not exist. I used to live in a place pretty devoid of "3rd places" that I liked, so I moved to a place where I liked the "3rd places" better.

It's a small bronze age now - the age of weak and fearful, with sloppy morals. The 40s will be a small iron age - when strong and amoral will run things, they will wreck freedoms with competence. The 50s will start another golden age.

Indeed, I think we have too many laws on the books. However in this climate I am afraid of unscrupulous legislators who are looking pare down on hard fought freedoms for ideological reasons.