A loneliness epidemic meets uneven social infrastructure

• Already, fewer Americans are talking to their neighbors, and young people fear they have nowhere to gather. But many of the places that ease isolation have closed their doors.
• "There's no single story to this; we've lost many sites, the sites themselves have changed, there's a growth of online places that fill varying needs —or not — for folks," says Jessica Finlay, a University of Colorado Boulder professor and a faculty fellow of the Institute of Behavioral Science.

By the numbers: A 2025 report from Finlay and other researchers found a rapid decline in third place availability — those gathering spaces outside of home and work — between 2019 and 2021, according to their analysis of Census tract-level data.

• Third place access varied across different groups. For example, majority-Black areas had fewer libraries, while low-educated and rural areas had fewer civic and social organizations.
• Despite the variation, the study found that the overall decline may disproportionately impact majority-Black, low-educated and rural communities.

Zoom out: More broadly, traditional brick-and-mortar churches are facing closures at unprecedented rates.

• When Ryan Burge's church in Mount Vernon, Illinois — once the cultural touchstone of the community — closed, he questioned what would come next.
• Burge, a professor at Washington University who served as a pastor for over 20 years, tells Axios that near the end, a large share of his congregants were widows, for whom the church was a "social network." His biggest worry, he says, was "where are these people going to go?"

Reality check: Just because a third place closes, it doesn't mean gatherings have ceased — but it does mean there's one less site for connection, which can have real impacts on physical, mental, social and cognitive health.

• On top of that, a third place doesn't necessarily need to close for it to be inaccessible, such as when sports leagues carry pricey barriers to entry, Kimberly Burrowes, a senior manager at the Urban Institute, told Axios.

What they're saying: Paige Hammond tells Axios that while there are public spaces in her Shorewood, Wisconsin, community, there's a lack of opportunity to gather.

• That struck her as she sat alone in her six-person backyard sauna. So, she posted a call on Facebook to see if any other women would be interested in joining. Well over 100 women responded.
• Hammond tells Axios, "It just became immediately clear that there was a need for this, and the need far exceeded the need to sauna."
• So, she launched the Shorewood Women's Social: A come-as-you-are space that's brought women in their 20s to their 70s together.

Zoom in: Spaces for connection are particularly important, Finlay says, for the "bookends of life."

• Lack of social interaction and gathering space "can be devastating" for older people, Finlay says. Informal social connections, such as at the supermarket checkout, "may be some of the only friendly smiles and engagements they have in a day."

The bottom line: While the status of third places across America is nuanced, their value is clear.

Go deeper: Lonely in your 20s? Join the club