diff --git a/docs/appcontext.rst b/docs/appcontext.rst
index 928ffc8a..a6b67001 100644
--- a/docs/appcontext.rst
+++ b/docs/appcontext.rst
@@ -85,3 +85,47 @@ Extensions are free to store additional information on the topmost level,
 assuming they pick a sufficiently unique name.
 
 For more information about that, see :ref:`extension-dev`.
+
+Context Usage
+-------------
+
+The context is typically used to cache resources on there that need to be
+created on a per-request or usage case.  For instance database connects
+are destined to go there.  When storing things on the application context
+unique names should be chosen as this is a place that is shared between
+Flask applications and extensions.
+
+The most common usage is to split resource management into two parts:
+
+1.  an implicit resource caching on the context.
+2.  a context teardown based resource deallocation.
+
+Generally there would be a ``get_X()`` function that creates resource
+``X`` if it does not exist yet and otherwise returns the same resource,
+and a ``teardown_X()`` function that is registered as teardown handler.
+
+This is an example that connects to a database::
+
+    import sqlite3
+    from flask import _app_ctx_stack
+
+    def get_db():
+        top = _app_ctx_stack.top
+        if not hasattr(top, 'database'):
+            top.database = connect_to_database()
+        return top.database
+
+    @app.teardown_appcontext
+    def teardown_db(exception):
+        top = _app_ctx_stack.top
+        if hasattr(top, 'database'):
+            top.database.close()
+
+The first time ``get_db()`` is called the connection will be established.
+To make this implicit a :class:`~werkzeug.local.LocalProxy` can be used::
+
+    from werkzeug.local import LocalProxy
+    db = LocalProxy(get_db)
+
+That way a user can directly access ``db`` which internally calls
+``get_db()``.
diff --git a/docs/patterns/sqlite3.rst b/docs/patterns/sqlite3.rst
index 0d02e465..45bcc959 100644
--- a/docs/patterns/sqlite3.rst
+++ b/docs/patterns/sqlite3.rst
@@ -3,61 +3,61 @@
 Using SQLite 3 with Flask
 =========================
 
-In Flask you can implement the opening of database connections at the
-beginning of the request and closing at the end with the
-:meth:`~flask.Flask.before_request` and :meth:`~flask.Flask.teardown_request`
-decorators in combination with the special :class:`~flask.g` object.
+In Flask you can implement the opening of database connections on demand
+and closing it when the context dies (usually at the end of the request)
+easily.
 
-So here is a simple example of how you can use SQLite 3 with Flask::
+Here is a simple example of how you can use SQLite 3 with Flask::
 
     import sqlite3
-    from flask import g
+    from flask import _app_ctx_stack
 
     DATABASE = '/path/to/database.db'
 
-    def connect_db():
-        return sqlite3.connect(DATABASE)
+    def get_db():
+        top = _app_ctx_stack.top
+        if not hasattr(top, 'sqlite_db'):
+            top.sqlite_db = sqlite3.connect(DATABASE)
+        return top.sqlite_db
 
-    @app.before_request
-    def before_request():
-        g.db = connect_db()
+    @app.teardown_appcontext
+    def close_connection(exception):
+        top = _app_ctx_stack.top
+        if hasattr(top, 'sqlite_db'):
+            top.sqlite_db.close()
+
+All the application needs to do in order to now use the database is having
+an active application context (which is always true if there is an request
+in flight) or to create an application context itself.  At that point the
+``get_db`` function can be used to get the current database connection.
+Whenever the context is destroyed the database connection will be
+terminated.
+
+Example::
+
+    @app.route('/')
+    def index():
+        cur = get_db().cursor()
+        ...
 
-    @app.teardown_request
-    def teardown_request(exception):
-        if hasattr(g, 'db'):
-            g.db.close()
 
 .. note::
 
-   Please keep in mind that the teardown request functions are always
-   executed, even if a before-request handler failed or was never
-   executed.  Because of this we have to make sure here that the database
-   is there before we close it.
+   Please keep in mind that the teardown request and appcontext functions
+   are always executed, even if a before-request handler failed or was
+   never executed.  Because of this we have to make sure here that the
+   database is there before we close it.
 
 Connect on Demand
 -----------------
 
-The downside of this approach is that this will only work if Flask
-executed the before-request handlers for you.  If you are attempting to
-use the database from a script or the interactive Python shell you would
-have to do something like this::
+The upside of this approach (connecting on first use) is that this will
+only opening the connection if truly necessary.  If you want to use this
+code outside a request context you can use it in a Python shell by opening
+the application context by hand::
 
-    with app.test_request_context():
-        app.preprocess_request()
-        # now you can use the g.db object
-
-In order to trigger the execution of the connection code.  You won't be
-able to drop the dependency on the request context this way, but you could
-make it so that the application connects when necessary::
-
-    def get_connection():
-        db = getattr(g, '_db', None)
-        if db is None:
-            db = g._db = connect_db()
-        return db
-
-Downside here is that you have to use ``db = get_connection()`` instead of
-just being able to use ``g.db`` directly.
+    with app.app_context():
+        # now you can use get_db()
 
 .. _easy-querying:
 
@@ -66,16 +66,28 @@ Easy Querying
 
 Now in each request handling function you can access `g.db` to get the
 current open database connection.  To simplify working with SQLite, a
-helper function can be useful::
+row factory function is useful.  It is executed for every result returned
+from the database to convert the result.  For instance in order to get
+dictionaries instead of tuples this can be used::
 
+    def make_dicts(cursor, row):
+        return dict((cur.description[idx][0], value)
+                    for idx, value in enumerate(row))
+
+    db.row_factory = make_dicts
+
+Additionally it is a good idea to provide a query function that combines
+getting the cursor, executing and fetching the results::
+    
     def query_db(query, args=(), one=False):
-        cur = g.db.execute(query, args)
-        rv = [dict((cur.description[idx][0], value)
-                   for idx, value in enumerate(row)) for row in cur.fetchall()]
+        cur = get_db().execute(query, args)
+        rv = cur.fetchall()
+        cur.close()
         return (rv[0] if rv else None) if one else rv
 
-This handy little function makes working with the database much more
-pleasant than it is by just using the raw cursor and connection objects.
+This handy little function in combination with a row factory makes working
+with the database much more pleasant than it is by just using the raw
+cursor and connection objects.
 
 Here is how you can use it::
 
@@ -105,10 +117,9 @@ Relational databases need schemas, so applications often ship a
 a function that creates the database based on that schema.  This function
 can do that for you::
 
-    from contextlib import closing
-    
     def init_db():
-        with closing(connect_db()) as db:
+        with app.app_context():
+            db = get_db()
             with app.open_resource('schema.sql') as f:
                 db.cursor().executescript(f.read())
             db.commit()
diff --git a/examples/flaskr/flaskr.py b/examples/flaskr/flaskr.py
index 6f9b06fc..8526254d 100644
--- a/examples/flaskr/flaskr.py
+++ b/examples/flaskr/flaskr.py
@@ -11,9 +11,8 @@
 """
 from __future__ import with_statement
 from sqlite3 import dbapi2 as sqlite3
-from contextlib import closing
 from flask import Flask, request, session, g, redirect, url_for, abort, \
-     render_template, flash
+     render_template, flash, _app_ctx_stack
 
 # configuration
 DATABASE = '/tmp/flaskr.db'
@@ -28,35 +27,37 @@ app.config.from_object(__name__)
 app.config.from_envvar('FLASKR_SETTINGS', silent=True)
 
 
-def connect_db():
-    """Returns a new connection to the database."""
-    return sqlite3.connect(app.config['DATABASE'])
-
-
 def init_db():
     """Creates the database tables."""
-    with closing(connect_db()) as db:
+    with app.app_context():
+        db = get_db()
         with app.open_resource('schema.sql') as f:
             db.cursor().executescript(f.read())
         db.commit()
 
 
-@app.before_request
-def before_request():
-    """Make sure we are connected to the database each request."""
-    g.db = connect_db()
+def get_db():
+    """Opens a new database connection if there is none yet for the
+    current application context.
+    """
+    top = _app_ctx_stack.top
+    if not hasattr(top, 'sqlite_db'):
+        top.sqlite_db = sqlite3.connect(app.config['DATABASE'])
+    return top.sqlite_db
 
 
-@app.teardown_request
-def teardown_request(exception):
+@app.teardown_appcontext
+def close_db_connection(exception):
     """Closes the database again at the end of the request."""
-    if hasattr(g, 'db'):
-        g.db.close()
+    top = _app_ctx_stack.top
+    if hasattr(top, 'sqlite_db'):
+        top.sqlite_db.close()
 
 
 @app.route('/')
 def show_entries():
-    cur = g.db.execute('select title, text from entries order by id desc')
+    db = get_db()
+    cur = db.execute('select title, text from entries order by id desc')
     entries = [dict(title=row[0], text=row[1]) for row in cur.fetchall()]
     return render_template('show_entries.html', entries=entries)
 
@@ -65,9 +66,10 @@ def show_entries():
 def add_entry():
     if not session.get('logged_in'):
         abort(401)
-    g.db.execute('insert into entries (title, text) values (?, ?)',
+    db = get_db()
+    db.execute('insert into entries (title, text) values (?, ?)',
                  [request.form['title'], request.form['text']])
-    g.db.commit()
+    db.commit()
     flash('New entry was successfully posted')
     return redirect(url_for('show_entries'))
 
@@ -95,4 +97,5 @@ def logout():
 
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
+    init_db()
     app.run()
diff --git a/examples/minitwit/minitwit.py b/examples/minitwit/minitwit.py
index fee023fd..a92da6af 100644
--- a/examples/minitwit/minitwit.py
+++ b/examples/minitwit/minitwit.py
@@ -13,9 +13,8 @@ import time
 from sqlite3 import dbapi2 as sqlite3
 from hashlib import md5
 from datetime import datetime
-from contextlib import closing
 from flask import Flask, request, session, url_for, redirect, \
-     render_template, abort, g, flash
+     render_template, abort, g, flash, _app_ctx_stack
 from werkzeug import check_password_hash, generate_password_hash
 
 
@@ -31,14 +30,29 @@ app.config.from_object(__name__)
 app.config.from_envvar('MINITWIT_SETTINGS', silent=True)
 
 
-def connect_db():
-    """Returns a new connection to the database."""
-    return sqlite3.connect(app.config['DATABASE'])
+def get_db():
+    """Opens a new database connection if there is none yet for the
+    current application context.
+    """
+    top = _app_ctx_stack.top
+    if not hasattr(top, 'sqlite_db'):
+        top.sqlite_db = sqlite3.connect(app.config['DATABASE'])
+        top.sqlite_db.row_factory = sqlite3.Row
+    return top.sqlite_db
+
+
+@app.teardown_appcontext
+def close_database(exception):
+    """Closes the database again at the end of the request."""
+    top = _app_ctx_stack.top
+    if hasattr(top, 'sqlite_db'):
+        top.sqlite_db.close()
 
 
 def init_db():
     """Creates the database tables."""
-    with closing(connect_db()) as db:
+    with app.app_context():
+        db = get_db()
         with app.open_resource('schema.sql') as f:
             db.cursor().executescript(f.read())
         db.commit()
@@ -46,16 +60,15 @@ def init_db():
 
 def query_db(query, args=(), one=False):
     """Queries the database and returns a list of dictionaries."""
-    cur = g.db.execute(query, args)
-    rv = [dict((cur.description[idx][0], value)
-               for idx, value in enumerate(row)) for row in cur.fetchall()]
+    cur = get_db().execute(query, args)
+    rv = cur.fetchall()
     return (rv[0] if rv else None) if one else rv
 
 
 def get_user_id(username):
     """Convenience method to look up the id for a username."""
-    rv = g.db.execute('select user_id from user where username = ?',
-                       [username]).fetchone()
+    rv = query_db('select user_id from user where username = ?',
+                  [username], one=True)
     return rv[0] if rv else None
 
 
@@ -72,23 +85,12 @@ def gravatar_url(email, size=80):
 
 @app.before_request
 def before_request():
-    """Make sure we are connected to the database each request and look
-    up the current user so that we know he's there.
-    """
-    g.db = connect_db()
     g.user = None
     if 'user_id' in session:
         g.user = query_db('select * from user where user_id = ?',
                           [session['user_id']], one=True)
 
 
-@app.teardown_request
-def teardown_request(exception):
-    """Closes the database again at the end of the request."""
-    if hasattr(g, 'db'):
-        g.db.close()
-
-
 @app.route('/')
 def timeline():
     """Shows a users timeline or if no user is logged in it will
@@ -145,9 +147,10 @@ def follow_user(username):
     whom_id = get_user_id(username)
     if whom_id is None:
         abort(404)
-    g.db.execute('insert into follower (who_id, whom_id) values (?, ?)',
-                [session['user_id'], whom_id])
-    g.db.commit()
+    db = get_db()
+    db.execute('insert into follower (who_id, whom_id) values (?, ?)',
+              [session['user_id'], whom_id])
+    db.commit()
     flash('You are now following "%s"' % username)
     return redirect(url_for('user_timeline', username=username))
 
@@ -160,9 +163,10 @@ def unfollow_user(username):
     whom_id = get_user_id(username)
     if whom_id is None:
         abort(404)
-    g.db.execute('delete from follower where who_id=? and whom_id=?',
-                [session['user_id'], whom_id])
-    g.db.commit()
+    db = get_db()
+    db.execute('delete from follower where who_id=? and whom_id=?',
+              [session['user_id'], whom_id])
+    db.commit()
     flash('You are no longer following "%s"' % username)
     return redirect(url_for('user_timeline', username=username))
 
@@ -173,10 +177,11 @@ def add_message():
     if 'user_id' not in session:
         abort(401)
     if request.form['text']:
-        g.db.execute('''insert into message (author_id, text, pub_date)
-            values (?, ?, ?)''', (session['user_id'], request.form['text'],
-                                  int(time.time())))
-        g.db.commit()
+        db = get_db()
+        db.execute('''insert into message (author_id, text, pub_date)
+          values (?, ?, ?)''', (session['user_id'], request.form['text'],
+                                int(time.time())))
+        db.commit()
         flash('Your message was recorded')
     return redirect(url_for('timeline'))
 
@@ -221,11 +226,12 @@ def register():
         elif get_user_id(request.form['username']) is not None:
             error = 'The username is already taken'
         else:
-            g.db.execute('''insert into user (
-                username, email, pw_hash) values (?, ?, ?)''',
-                [request.form['username'], request.form['email'],
-                 generate_password_hash(request.form['password'])])
-            g.db.commit()
+            db = get_db()
+            db.execute('''insert into user (
+              username, email, pw_hash) values (?, ?, ?)''',
+              [request.form['username'], request.form['email'],
+               generate_password_hash(request.form['password'])])
+            db.commit()
             flash('You were successfully registered and can login now')
             return redirect(url_for('login'))
     return render_template('register.html', error=error)
@@ -245,4 +251,5 @@ app.jinja_env.filters['gravatar'] = gravatar_url
 
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
+    init_db()
     app.run()