Not only are these places disappearing, the ones still standing cost more to walk into than they used to. Bars are getting squeezed from the insurance side: Liquor liability premiums have jumped 25% to 40% in some regions. Third places are where much of that everyday, low-stakes connection used to happen by default. “It’s not just our close, intimate relationships that impact our mental, physical, cognitive health, but our broader network,” Holt-Lunstad said. “Social anxiety can be a barrier to connection,” Holt-Lunstad said, “and so if there’s less pressure, that may be an entry point for creating connection that reduces the pressure to identify conversation topics.”