America needs the Chicago rat hole
What a viral rodent imprint tells us about social connection and the hunger for third places
A shrine. A pilgrimage. Neighbors joining together in the freezing cold. Offerings of money and Malort. Prayers, art projects, a wedding, an engagement, and millions of views on social media.
Over the past few weeks, Chicago’s Roscoe Village has seen all of this and more, as it is home to one of the most powerful connective forces of 2024: the rat hole.
The rat hole is an animal-shaped imprint in the sidewalk that gained attention in early January, when artist Winslow Dumaine shared a photograph of it and posted: “Had to make a pilgrimage to the Chicago Rat Hole.”
Dumaine’s post went viral, drawing locals and tourists and turning this section of sidewalk into a popular destination overnight. Visitors have built an increasingly elaborate shrine next to the hole. Some make offerings of liquor and coins. Pilgrimages have turned into larger events, with one couple getting engaged at the rat hole and another getting married.
I spoke with Cherice Cosentino, a local resident who recounts discovering the joy of the rat hole last September:
A group of friends and I were walking through Roscoe Village on the way to Lakeview when I stopped everyone and looked down and shrieked “rat splat!”. We immediately rallied around it and took photos and our whole group posed for 5-10 minutes. It was a joyful moment.
The rat hole, Cosentino tells me, makes her “so genuinely happy” – and it’s clear that she is far from alone. When someone filled it in with a plaster-like substance last week, determined rat hole visitors worked together in the cold to dig it out using small tools and a license plate, in an action that State Representative Ann Williams praised as being “what community is all about.”
While the rat hole has generated local pride, the popularity of the destination has some neighbors pushing back, sharing that the attention has grown disruptive to residents on the street.
These concerns suggest the rat hole’s days may be numbered. Yet, the surge of social connection stemming from this spot in the concrete has implications beyond the hole itself.
By physically bringing people together, in a time when everyone from scholars to employers to politicians are trying to figure out how to do exactly that, the rat hole invites us to think about the importance of place. Where do we go to be around other people? What actually gets us out of our homes? And what can we learn from the success of this sidewalk rodent?
“Third places” and the rat hole
We spend so much of our time at work or at home, but neither place is where we find community. Sociologist Ray Oldenburg argues that this is where third places come in: spaces which are neither home nor work where people can gather, chat, walk together, get to know each other, and bond.
Third places have a few things in common. They have to be accessible spaces on neutral ground, making it easy for anyone to join. They must emphasize local community and attract regulars, establishing a sense of belonging and ease. They should foster conversation, and the mood should be playful. Traditional examples of third places include coffee shops, pubs, restaurants, parks, bookstores, libraries, gyms, or barbershops.
But many of these traditional third places aren’t as accessible as a third place should be. Most cost money to enter or occupy space. Some have limited hours, others aren’t playful or don’t encourage conversation.
By contrast, the rat hole is free. Imprinted on the public space of a sidewalk, the rat hole is as neutral a space as possible in a sea of private ownership. It attracts regulars and the mood is playful, generating joy and conversation in person and online. And while it emphasizes local community, I can tell you, as a former Chicagoan, that even watching the story unfold online can inspire feelings of belonging and connection for anyone lucky enough to have lived in the city.
It’s a stretch to call the rat hole a third place: Oldenburg also imagined that third places would be low profile and ordinary, and frequented often enough to become a home away from home, none of which applies to a viral attraction. Yet, the accessibility, playfulness, and interactive quality of the rat hole makes it serve the function of a “third place” more than many other places in America today, and its popularity shows just how much we need this type of destination.
Toward a society of rat holes
As the rat hole nears its inevitable decline (a gathering spot in front of apartment buildings was never going to last), there are a few things we can draw from its initial success.
We need reasons to gather that foster conversation, that are accessible, and that center community.
We need more things that are public and free: a drink at a bar can cost you $10-15, and coffee can run $3-5. Making a pilgrimage to a rat hole? Priceless.
And if all of this sounds silly to you, that’s the point. The U.S. has privatized a million ways to be serious and alone. The rat hole shows how hungry we are for shared ways to be playful, together.
We need things that spark whatever it is in a human that gets us outside in the freezing cold, side by side with neighbors and strangers alike, bonded over the common goal of digging plaster out of a hole shaped like a rat for no reason other than the absurd happiness it brings.
Cosentino tells me that “people need that same feeling of joy more than ever,” explaining:
The economy sucks and everyone is feeling the impact of inflation. It costs $100 minimum to do anything when you leave your home. Enter the rat hole. A free landmark in an accessible area of the city to most of its residents. I think it’s such a silly phenomena - but I think there’s a lot to be said for free entertainment and the way it’s brought our city together in a time that otherwise feels uncertain.
In the midst of social disconnection, economic strain, and political uncertainty, we have to think creatively about how we can bring people together. Because, as important as our traditional third places might be, the stress and loneliness we’re experiencing shows that what we have right now isn’t enough.
Maybe, the answer lies in places we just haven’t thought of yet – places like Roscoe Village, in a rat-shaped puddle of coins and Malort.
This was so good! Whodathunk? 😃 Yet another of “life’s simple pleasures” - Thanks for sharing