Americans need more and better ‘third places.’ User fees can help.

America is lonelier than ever. Recent surveys find that nearly half of Americans report feeling lonely, and 21 percent express experiencing "serious loneliness." Close friendships are also in free fall across the country. In 2021, the American Enterprise Institute's Survey Center on American Life found that close friendships have "declined considerably over the past several decades," with 12 percent of Americans reporting "they did not have any close friends."

Documented causes of this loneliness epidemic include social media and the rise in remote work, mental health challenges, and the decline of what sociologist Ray Oldenburg famously called " third places "—the spaces beyond home and work where people meet and connect.

Historically, churches, fraternal organizations, and even bowling