Some people in the comments express distaste for the very idea of McDonald's being a community hub, but claiming that this sentiment is "feudalistic" is also wrong-headed. McDonalds is tacky – not just because it's cheap. The colors are cartoonish, the music is loud and, frankly, this is just not what it was created for. At its best, McDonald's is, and always has been, a place for families with children.
That said, the alternatives are also poor. Bars are small, obscene and focused on drinking; "serious" restaurants are exclusionary and expensive; parks are, well, open to elements.
Where I live, we have many anti-cafes. Some are highly thematic, quiet, stylish, with comfy rooms for groups which want privacy, and time there is cheap enough to make food joints non-competitive. Then there's libraries (though in the US, it seems, they've come to serve another community function, for an even lower income demographic).
The sentiment that this is "a new low" is not nearly as damnable and undemocratic as some here try to signal. It is possible to do better than having a gaudy corporation's food joint serve as the core for modern community.