McDonald’s Holds Communities Together | Chris Arnade | Guardian | 8th June 2016

McDonald’s is the “de facto community centre” of low-income America. It offers space, cheap coffee, wi-fi, clean bathrooms, phone-charging points, and none of the bureaucracy attaching to an official community or outreach centre. Retired people meet in daily social clubs. The homeless come in from the streets. “They prefer McDonald’s to shelters because McDonald’s are safer, provide more freedom, and most importantly, the chance to be social, restoring a small amount of normalcy”