Does Boston have some of the worst nightlife of any major city? (Newton: appointed, colleges)

[scorpio516]

Compared to some cities/CSA, Boston's nightlife is amazing

Boston's the 21st biggest city in the US.
Milwaukee's night life is very comparable, as is their city size (only 20k fewer people live in MKE). Very bar centric, not very dance clubby. But Milwaukee has a lot of festivals.
Sacramento and Fresno are just awful. And each of them only have 100k fewer people than Boston.
Detroit? meh. There are some decent suburb clubs, but it's like Boston/Milwaukee, only worse. With 90k MORE people.

Metro area wise - Boston 4.6M, Detroit 4.3M, Sac 2.2M, Milwaukee 1.5M, Fresno 0.9M

IMHO, Boston is very interesting. Modern Boston is very academia-centric, yet Boston's nightlife is very blue-collar. Detroit and Milwaukee's blue-collar nightlife makes perfect sense. Boston's, well, you would have thought nightlife would have become more like a college town's in the last 50-100 years as manufacturing left the area. But it didn't. I'd think it would make a very interesting cultural anthropology study...

[Boston_Burbs]

Originally Posted by charolastra00

Morris Wanchuk - have you tried the Burren in Davis Square? They have Irish music at the weekend, but it gets really crowded. There is also the sister bar, the Skellig, in Waltham.

I never did make the track to the Burren, living on Mission Hill. Have always wanted to check it out. That is the place that U2 played, right?

[495neighbor]

Originally Posted by Morris Wanchuk

I never did make the track to the Burren, living on Mission Hill. Have always wanted to check it out. That is the place that U2 played, right?

@MW, in your neck of the woods and mine, one of my local favs, the Bull Run in Shirley has Irish bands. They had a band in from Belfast not too long ago, according to their website. Nice large space for acoustics and tasty pub food.

[bjimmy24]

Originally Posted by scorpio516

Compared to some cities/CSA, Boston's nightlife is amazing

Boston's the 21st biggest city in the US.
Milwaukee's night life is very comparable, as is their city size (only 20k fewer people live in MKE). Very bar centric, not very dance clubby. But Milwaukee has a lot of festivals.
Sacramento and Fresno are just awful. And each of them only have 100k fewer people than Boston.
Detroit? meh. There are some decent suburb clubs, but it's like Boston/Milwaukee, only worse. With 90k MORE people.

Metro area wise - Boston 4.6M, Detroit 4.3M, Sac 2.2M, Milwaukee 1.5M, Fresno 0.9M

IMHO, Boston is very interesting. Modern Boston is very academia-centric, yet Boston's nightlife is very blue-collar. Detroit and Milwaukee's blue-collar nightlife makes perfect sense. Boston's, well, you would have thought nightlife would have become more like a college town's in the last 50-100 years as manufacturing left the area. But it didn't. I'd think it would make a very interesting cultural anthropology study...

Milwaukee-Boston is not a great comparisson. Boston's MSA is 10th in the country, Milwaukee's is 39th. These are not similarly-sized nor similar cities at all. I also don't really consider Boston nightlife "blue collar." In my opinion, Boston nightlife fits modern Boston. I honestly prefer nightlife in cities like Milwaukee, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, etc. to bigger cities. TONS of bang for your buck and lots of drinkers/colorful characters in those places. Just my opinion though. Boston isn't really that bad like some people say.

[LEFTIMAGE]

Originally Posted by Morris Wanchuk

Agreed. Every time a night club goes out of business I do a small fist pump..

That would certainly explain the pisss-poor nightlife in Beantown. I agree that cities shouldn't try being something they're not. Boston is great as it is.

[BATCAT]

Originally Posted by krehnlin32

Since moving here recently, here's what I've noticed:

1:30 last call rule
Forceful and idiotic state laws
Introverted culture
Cliquish nightlife to a fault. no one talks to each other
No clubs to go to after 2 AM.
Very few fun places to go that are 24x7

The streets feel dead early most nights, and there just aren't that many fun places to go. I have a good job here and like the City, but I wish the nightlife wasn't so incredibly bad.

Originally Posted by branh0913

//www.city-data.com/forum/seatt...e-country.html

Does Seattle have the worst nightlife in the country?

I'm a 33 year old IT professional, and I've been in Seattle for almost a year. But one of the first things I noticed is that Seattle has some of the worst night life I've seen in any city.


1:30 last call rule
Forceful and idiotic state laws
Introverted culture
Cliquish nightlife to a fault. no one talks to each other
No clubs to go to after 2 AM.


Very few fun places to go that are 24x7, unless you count a random QFC or Walgreens

I remember a few weeks ago, going out and then coming home at 2 AM. I was wide awake, and wanted to do more stuff, then I just thought to myself "There isn't anything else to do". I mean Seattle has hands down the worst nightlife I've seen in a major city. It seems like if you don't like camping or hiking you won't have much to do. And it seems like people only go over other people's house and smoke pot. It doesn't help that most people in Seattle have been living here their entire lives, and only mingle with their friends that they've known since high school.

I hate to say this, but Seattle is a hideously boring city. If you just want to go camping, and sit around the house most of the time, this city is the best. The thing is, it's such a beautiful city, that you'd think there would be more stuff to do. But nope! It wouldn't be so bad if you could meet cool people in Seattle, but if you're not some ******* pot smoker, good luck connecting with anyone.

Seems like the single life in Seattle sucks. The population is just not outgoing. I like the fact I can make so much money here, but geez I don't want to work my ass off just to sit at home and stare at the wall on weekends.

[zbellino]

Originally Posted by charolastra00

Morris Wanchuk - have you tried the Burren in Davis Square? They have Irish music at the weekend, but it gets really crowded. There is also the sister bar, the Skellig, in Waltham.

Yep. the Burren and the Skellig are great. the owners are great too. they have another, possibly my favorite, in Manchester, NH called the Shaskeen. all three have a nearly identical vibe. The Burren has the youngest crowd though, and isn't quite s laid back as the others, but sometimes that is what you want.

[MikeNigh]

Originally Posted by krehnlin32

... Introverted culture
Cliquish nightlife to a fault. no one talks to each other
...

When I visited Boston 4 years ago this is exactly what I noticed. I felt like I was living in a body snatchers movie. My impression was that this was probably because people were smarter on average and smart people tend to be more quiet and reserved.

Boston is like living in a library compared to the rest of the world.

[Cliff Clavin]

Originally Posted by MikeNigh

When I visited Boston 4 years ago this is exactly what I noticed. I felt like I was living in a body snatchers movie. My impression was that this was probably because people were smarter on average and smart people tend to be more quiet and reserved.

Boston is like living in a library compared to the rest of the world.

You obviously weren't here when the Sox won the 2004 ALCS.

[TAM88]

Originally Posted by MikeNigh

When I visited Boston 4 years ago this is exactly what I noticed. I felt like I was living in a body snatchers movie. My impression was that this was probably because people were smarter on average and smart people tend to be more quiet and reserved.

Boston is like living in a library compared to the rest of the world.

So then Miami must be full of fake, plastic and dumb people since the nightlife down there is so good. Makes sense.