"Third" Places to increase serendipity near Santa Monica/Brentwood

September 9, 2008 3:13 AM

Ray Oldenburg wrote a book a while back called "The Great Good Place" where he described what he called "Third Places", places with regulars who habitually congregate there to meet new and old friends in a welcoming atmosphere. What places near Santa Monica/Brentwood/West Los Angeles California fit that description?

I'd like to avoid places where people are physically in the same place but almost exclusively ignore each other while in front of their laptops.

posted by realpseudonym to human relations (3 comments total)

I'd put Ye Olde King's Head's Wednesday Trivia Night on that list. It's like Cheers, but with trivia.

The Rocky Horror Picture show viewings every Saturday at midnight at the Landmark Nuart Theater on Santa Monica Blvd.

Also, the Melrose Trading Post (flea market) at the corner of Melrose and N. Fairfax every Sunday; there's lots of regulars, lots of impromptu friend meet-ups and bump-intos.

I would put the Farmer's Market at 3rd and Fairfax on that list, too. Huge open space, lots of great food, lots of conversation.
posted by plasticbugs at 7:30 AM on September 9, 2008

Ah, now I see you were looking for just the West Side, so that cancels out the Melrose/Fairfax stuff. I didn't read carefully enough.
posted by plasticbugs at 7:32 AM on September 9, 2008

Seconding the Nuart Rocky Horror, but my family's been involved with that for over a decade, so I'm biased.

If you're asking because you want to find a welcoming place, a lot depends on how gregarious/creative/involved you want to get and what you're into. There are very positive, welcoming circles all over LA, centered around various topics -- cars, high altitude rocketry, surfing, knitting, goth, whatever -- and these often have informal physical "churches" associated with them.
posted by felix at 8:28 AM on September 9, 2008