Listen to the article:
Songbird Coffee & Tea House is home to students hunched over laptops, mothers entertaining hyper children, business types conducting outdoor meetings and older couples chatting over warm matcha lattes.
Tufted headboard-style benches upholstered with green velvet anchor the room, while Inky Bob, the shop's black, fluffy feline mascot, roams the uneven wood floors and greets patrons of all ages with a quizzical look. Abstract paintings, potted plants and paper cranes create Songbird's eclectic, yet cozy atmosphere. The historic house turned shop is meant to be "an extension of your living room," and it seems that way, as many downtown Phoenicians find themselves gravitating to the space to gather and unwind.
Third places, or places separate from one’s home (first place) or workplace (second place), are essential to fostering a sense of community and finding comfort in a public space around people whose company you enjoy. For college students, third places mainly provide stress relief from work or the buzz on campus. Even though many flock to coffee shops, third places can be anything — whether you have to pay for something or not, be indoors or outdoors, be surrounded by quiet or chatter, they are defined by those who inhabit them.
Tempe
Max Hackert loves the green color of Premium Matcha Cafe Maiko and its overall energy. Hackert, a senior studying supply chain management, is a cafe enthusiast. Whether it be tea shops, like Cafe Maiko, or a proper coffee shop, like King Coffee, Hackert delights in the energy of her chosen third places, as she reserves her apartment and bedroom for personal time to relax and unwind.
Her rationale for spending most of her time in cafes is people. A lover of chatting, Hackert finds the subtle din of cafe conversations to be helpful when she is studying or working on her computer.
"Maybe it’s the extrovert in me that’s like, 'I want to be around people,' even though I’m supposed to be focused on my work," Hackert said.
Hackert’s perfect third place must have beautiful windows and cascading light, but she also enjoys being outside. "It’s so beautiful here in Arizona, and I swear I will go to photosynthesize," she said.
The atmosphere Hackert looks for is present in Eden Tea & Coffee House.
"I wanted it to feel like home away from home," said Amie Pierone, owner of Eden.
Eden is located in a 1920s-style craftsman house just off the Tempe campus. Walking in, you're immediately greeted by baristas and the smell of brewing coffee and tea. The brown leather armchairs complete the
room and give the shop a welcoming feeling. Pothos plants adorn the high shelving and refurbished furniture, covering every square inch of space.
Tempe residents of every age converse over large steaming mugs of Eden's signature drinks. The creaky wooden floors and uneven ceilings make the room feel lived-in. Lo-fi music streams softly through the speakers and combined with the chatter of the patrons, the vibe of the shop is comforting.
"I never wanted it to be just strictly commercial and transactional," Pierone said.
Following a connection-based ethos, Pierone wants students to feel welcome to stay for more than the typical few minutes of grabbing a drink and leaving. Pierone provides customers with what she calls "to- stay cups," or ceramic mugs, so they feel encouraged to take up space in Eden’s environment.
Pierone said she is enthused with how she can foster community in Tempe, and feels fulfilled from providing a community gathering space. Pierone is also happy to see older members of the Tempe community interacting with students.
"I ended up having a custom little journal made called Stories of Eden so that I could write down things that happen because there’s so many special moments," Pierone said.
Downtown Phoenix
Erin Westgate, owner of Songbird, loves coffee and her Roosevelt Row arts district community. She considers it to be another home for her and her customers, which includes many ASU students from the Downtown Phoenix campus.
"I mean, it literally is a house ... And that's something I wanted to make sure wasn't just an exterior. I wanted [it] to still feel like a home when you come inside," Westgate said.
The homey aspect of Songbird means that, like Eden, customers typically spend extended amounts of time in the old house's thick walls.
Westgate said that even though it would probably be more profitable to have people come in, hang out for 20 minutes, and make them move along, there’s a ton of electrical outlets for a reason: they encourage patrons to plug in their electronics and stay a while, peppering in conversations with others when they can.
"We want our community to be as diverse as possible because we feel like that’s what really makes it rich," she said.
Songbird supports all kinds of local art, from visual to auditory artists. The cafe hosts local musicians regularly to draw customers in and to uplift the voices of local musicians.
"It's still the arts district, and it's really important to me that we honor that, and so that means live music on Saturdays and featuring local artists on the wall," Westgate said. "It's vibrant, but I hope that it also is a calming place for people to kind of shut off from the outside world if they need to for a little bit."
West Valley and Polytechnic
Not being located in a college town or at the center of a major city, ASU's West Valley and Polytechnic campuses are quieter and less compact than its Tempe and Downtown Phoenix counterparts, but that’s the beauty of them — there's no getting caught up in foot traffic on the way to class or navigating bustling intersections.
The tradeoff, however, is being in a location where there aren't many traditional off-campus third places students can walk to. Instead, students occupy the library, the gym or outdoor seating areas in their free time.
According to Bobbi Hinrichsen, a sophomore studying pharmacology and toxicology, the lack of third places near the West Valley campus can provoke feelings of loneliness at times. The central part of campus is set well within the perimeter, far from the main streets. At its busiest times, students can be seen conversing with each other in passing, but even then, the open space prompted by the grassy quad and isolated buildings dampens the buzz.
But ultimately, Hinrichsen loves the atmosphere and takes advantage of the nice outdoor areas. Plus, she feels that the campus' energy is very focused, as many students are in STEM fields. Even though the West Valley campus lacks third places, Hinrichsen said its administration tries to facilitate community engagement in on-campus spaces, and she admires them for doing so. However, the essence of a third place is the informality of its community engagement and interaction.
Hinrichsen said without her car, she would feel isolated and trapped within the green spaces of her campus, but luckily for her, she can drive to her equivalent of a third place: a local movie theater.
Unconventional third places
Third places don’t necessarily need to be a sit down and talk environment. They can be activity based or centered around a community interest or group.
Aside from coffee and tea shops, Hackert enjoys rock climbing at Phoenix Rock Gym in Tempe.
"What I like about climbing is [that] I can really fully disconnect from society," she said. "It's really not a serious thing. ... It's so much fun to just completely disconnect for two, three hours and talk to the people there about anything and everything.
Part of the reason Hackert enjoys rock climbing is because of the physical nature of the activity; she isn't worried about her social skills when everything is facilitated through scaling a rock wall. Despite that, Hackert’s jovial spirit has led her to make friends quickly, and she is now fulfilled both physically and mentally.
Third places provide their patrons with the opportunity to exchange life experiences together. Hackert’s time at Phoenix Rock Gym has allowed her to bond with her fellow climbers, and even though it’s a different experience than the connections she has made with a cup of tea in hand, it’s provided that sense of fulfillment that all third places foster.
Edited by Savannah Dagupion, Leah Mesquita and Audrey Eagerton.
This story is part of The Culture Issue, which was released on February 26, 2025. See the entire publication here.
Reach the reporter at amazzill@asu.edu and follow @BellaMazzilli on X.
Like State Press Magazine on Facebook, follow @statepressmag on X and Instagram and read our releases on Issuu.
