Jeremy Pate

Third places are necessary for our individual and civic health. If we want to rebuild our social fabric, that should guide our giving habits. One of the calamities of COVID-19 is that it cut off many of the connections we have to third places—those informal gathering places that offer a welcome escape from home and work, and that serve as the “living room” of civil society.

In my job, I am inspired by the resolve of residents to make Northwest Arkansas the most welcoming place to live. I was raised on a farm in south Arkansas, a very rural part of the state. I grew up appreciating everything Arkansas has to offer, from clear running streams to forested hills and open fields. There are so many opportunities for adventure and imagination. But as a native Arkansan, I recognize that our state has had a lot of challenges, historically. Poverty. Lack of opportunity.

In Springdale, Arkansas, a local community center decided to ‘go big’ on construction of a new bike park “We have a counter on the gate for the pump track,” says Ed Clifford, CEO of The Jones Center in Springdale, Arkansas.