Atlanta Urbanist Book Group
A Better Atlanta, One Book at a Time
Our mission at the Atlanta Urbanist Book Group is to introduce new ideas to Urban Atlanta by reading recent books about cities, identifying the ideas we think would work in Atlanta, and offering citizens and civic leaders a guide to these ideas.
We define “urbanism” broadly. We are reading books about transportation, land use, housing, public safety, government reform, neighborhoods, social infrastructure, education, economic development, regionalism, diversity, politics, arts and culture, volunteerism, and more.
Our aim isn’t to review books but to show how their ideas apply to Atlanta today and suggest ways of moving from good ideas to good actions.
Interested? Like to join us for a discussion? Click here to sign up for our email notices about books and meeting dates.
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Next Book: The Great Good Place: Cafes, Coffee Shops, Bookstores, Bars, Hair Salons, and Other Hangouts at the Heart of a Community
Sep 2, 2026
We will discuss a classic urbanist book about why we need “third places” outside of work and home, for mental health reasons and the good of communities. These places, once so common in American cities, were disappearing when this book was published in 1989. They’ve continued to dwindle in number since.
Ray Oldenburg was a sociology professor at the University of West Florida. He died in 2002.
In our discussion, we will discuss what the loss of third places means to neighborhoods, Urban Atlanta’s cities and American society.