What is there is no there there?

"There is no there there" is a phrase that was famously uttered by the author and poet, Gertrude Stein, to describe the feeling of not having a sense of place or belonging in a particular location. Stein used this phrase in reference to her hometown of Oakland, California, which she found to have become unrecognizable and lacking in character after many years away. The phrase has since been used more broadly to describe a sense of emptiness or lack of substance in various contexts, such as in works of literature and in critiques of societal issues.