Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Miami is great...for a visit, but fairly one dimensional and frankly, not a crowd I could ever stand partying with more than 2x a year. I am originally from FL and most of those I know who stayed (usually those who could not really get out, lol) and live in Miami are stereotypically fully immersed in THE scene that Miami is known for (or a variation of that scene found up in Broward). I find it to be abysmally pathetic, to be frank.
Most people on here talk about crazy "nightlife" from a tourist's perspective (as in they saw the clubbing lifestyle in Miami Beach or went to Vegas a few times and so all of a sudden from those limited experiences these two places are the best overall places for "nightlife" as narrowly defined herein), however, I like going out with friends who live in said city rather than going to a city just to party, as one might do in LV, Miami, etc. One can find clubs similar to those in Miami Beach/DT Miami in quite a few cities in this country, some with abundance. But one cannot find the diverse bar scenes that make a lot of cities fun in Miami/Miami Beach. Big annual events like Ultra/WMF or EDM? Honestly, unless you're 17-25, who cares?!?
Generally speaking, in my mind, cities with a large and attractive population of single 25-45 year olds working top of their field jobs and earning that dough have the best and most well-rounded nightlife. Cities with lots of tourists, particularly international tourists, also have good nightlife. And cities on the coast or bordering Mex. have the best access to substances. It is possible to combine all 3, and therein you'll find the best nightlife.
You can find bars in every city, including Memphis. And of course in Miami Beach as well, but no one talks about our bars because we have clubs and lounges that quite frankly the vast majority don't have. Bringing up bars in this context is like bringing up the lack of applebees, fridays, or taco bell when discussing a city's foodie scene. It quite frankly frames you in just how much you're a nightlife person, in other words not really one.
As for Ultra which you refer to, maybe you don't want to go to the festival itself. Too much of an young crowd, but this Ultra brings people to Miami meaning every one of our clubs is packed on every single day of Winter Music Conference. Not to mention all the DJs here, who come down for Ultra but end up also spinning in every club for the entire duration. Just one of them in San Francisco would be your headlining act, but here during this time every club is a headlining act. Not to mention many music fads happen out of here during Ultra, like Deadmau5. Things you will be dancing to and thinking your cutting edge 1 year later, happened here already.
But let's talk bars very quickly, there all sorts of bars here like there is any city. From hole in the wall, to bars that attract the artsy crowd, to pool halls, to my favorite here, an eastern european hangout which looks like a big opera hall and you have some eastern european singers while you drink eastern european beers. But San Francisco absolutely does not have our club scene, and it's not even close, not even for debate. In San Francisco I can't go to a club with my girlfriend that has couches/beds with drapes on the beach, so when we want privacy we lay on one of those beds on the beach, then go back inside to 2 gigantic dance floors stacked on each other. I can't come back from work, go to a pool and have waitresses serve me drinks while a DJ spins, overlooking one of the most exclusive marinas in the USA. I can't come back and at 3am on a sunday go to a rooftop with ocean views and find it packed like I did last night. So it's your night scene that is more 1 dimensional, we have what you have, you don't have what we have. Even your bar scene sucks because it's on a clock, 2am and you can't drink anymore unless you go to one of those "underground" parties which are technically illegal. Hell, you can't even smoke in a bar in San Francisco.
But I don't blame you, our clubs are exclusive. We are the playground for the rich in a way San Francisco is not. I hear all the time on San Francisco forums how expensive apartments are there, how you have to pay 5k per month. There have been nights here in Miami Beach I spent just that on one night and I'm small fry in this regard. I know people who regularly blow 50k on one night here. At my favorite place, just one bottle of grey goose with orange juice and cranberry juice, is 1000USD. If you're poor and a guy you can't really enjoy our nightlife. You will waste it in line, and you won't be able to buy anything. A lot of the clubs here have entry starting at 80 and going to 200USD. That's just entry. What's it in San Francisco, 20USD? Not that I should be bragging about overpriced entry, but the reason they charge it is because they can. And the the reason they can is because our nightlife is in such demand, we get the world jetsetters here every week blowing this kind of money.
You can find bars in every city, including Memphis. And of course in Miami Beach as well, but no one talks about our bars because we have clubs and lounges that quite frankly the vast majority don't have. Bringing up bars in this context is like bringing up the lack of applebees, fridays, or taco bell when discussing a city's foodie scene. It quite frankly frames you in just how much you're a nightlife person, in other words not really one.
As for Ultra which you refer to, maybe you don't want to go to the festival itself. Too much of an young crowd, but this Ultra brings people to Miami meaning every one of our clubs is packed on every single day of Winter Music Conference. Not to mention all the DJs here, who come down for Ultra but end up also spinning in every club for the entire duration. Just one of them in San Francisco would be your headlining act, but here during this time every club is a headlining act. Not to mention many music fads happen out of here during Ultra, like Deadmau5. Things you will be dancing to and thinking your cutting edge 1 year later, happened here already.
But let's talk bars very quickly, there all sorts of bars here like there is any city. From hole in the wall, to bars that attract the artsy crowd, to pool halls, to my favorite here, an eastern european hangout which looks like a big opera hall and you have some eastern european singers while you drink eastern european beers. But San Francisco absolutely does not have our club scene, and it's not even close, not even for debate. In San Francisco I can't go to a club with my girlfriend that has couches/beds with drapes on the beach, so when we want privacy we lay on one of those beds on the beach, then go back inside to 2 gigantic dance floors stacked on each other. I can't come back from work, go to a pool and have waitresses serve me drinks while a DJ spins, overlooking one of the most exclusive marinas in the USA. I can't come back and at 3am on a sunday go to a rooftop with ocean views and find it packed like I did last night. So it's your night scene that is more 1 dimensional, we have what you have, you don't have what we have. Even your bar scene sucks because it's on a clock, 2am and you can't drink anymore unless you go to one of those "underground" parties which are technically illegal. Hell, you can't even smoke in a bar in San Francisco.
But I don't blame you, our clubs are exclusive. We are the playground for the rich in a way San Francisco is not. I hear all the time on San Francisco forums how expensive apartments are there, how you have to pay 5k per month. There have been nights here in Miami Beach I spent just that on one night and I'm small fry in this regard. I know people who regularly blow 50k on one night here. At my favorite place, just one bottle of grey goose with orange juice and cranberry juice, is 1000USD. If you're poor and a guy you can't really enjoy our nightlife. You will waste it in line, and you won't be able to buy anything. A lot of the clubs here have entry starting at 80 and going to 200USD. That's just entry. What's it in San Francisco, 20USD? Not that I should be bragging about overpriced entry, but the reason they charge it is because they can. And the the reason they can is because our nightlife is in such demand, we get the world jetsetters here every week blowing this kind of money.
And no offense, but this is why Miami is only good for an occasional visit. Your post clearly demonstrates how utterly vapid you are, and yet you're merely typical. As I (and others) have said, it's the PEOPLE in Miami that one can only take in small doses and actually bring the nightlife in Miami down a notch.
I have already stated that San Francisco as a whole caters to its residents. Many of its residents are very rich, genuinely richer than residents in Miami and more discreet, tasteful, and less flashy. It's just how the city is. Just like people in New York often care about importance and sometimes pedigree, often job, etc, and people in DC want to know who you're working for (nothing wrong with any of this as people in these cities are productive and intellectual), people in San Francisco want to know what you're doing, and if possible, what you're doing to change the world. This is why bar scenes in both cities are more important, generally, to locals than club scenes, which are for occasions.
What this translates to is a nightlife scene that doesn't cater, or frankly welcome, the Kim Kardashian types at the expense of keeping the local residents happy. Although Kim K was proposed to in SF and her type is up in the city partying more than you'd probably care to admit. What this means is that there are more bars per capita in SF than almost anywhere else in NA, and fewer clubs than say a Miami. But overall, yea, your clubs in Miami can charge hundreds at the door and admit only wannabe celebrities and nouveau riche Euro trash types if they want, and then you have a whole population of vapid poor average people willing to schillack the money to also get inside and feel like they're part of that crowd (refer to your own post above, jeez), and so if you call that good nightlife, then I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you.
However, what I meant by having clubs like that in SF is that while by no means do we have clubs with beds on a beach or a pool party scene, because we just don't have that climate, we do have very nice clubs with large dance floors, high end sound systems and decor, a dress code, an interesting setting, and headlining DJs (and plenty of local DJs as well). And I've got to say, I prefer the local DJs or the older headliners such as the time I randomly saw Digweed spinning out one night, than all the new party crap that literally has exploded and everyone is listening to. Most cities have pretty pathetic and limited clubs. Only a few have decent clubs, and a plethora of them. SF is one. So that's what I meant by we can replicate your clubs, just not your *scene*.
What you guys can't replicate, and I know this because I'm practically from the place, is our Mission. Our Polk St. Our Chestnut St. Our Tenderloin scene. Our downtown/financial district scene. Our SOMA scene. Our North Beach. Our Oakland sceneS. Our Castro scene. Our Haight scene. These are all local scenes that you guys might have represented in *a* bar somewhere. But Miami is not a bar city. Never has been, and never will be. It's a city of excess that leans towards clubs and lounges, or hotel bars, or fancy wine bars in the Grove (lol)...and your wine bars suck compared to those in CA (). No offense, but I think most people who have been to Miami and experienced its nightlife would agree with me that it is one of the most one-dimensional places (WHICH IS WHY PEOPLE VISIT...IT CATERS TO VISITORS WANTING TO PARTY).
And your post really exemplifies that. Your post screams - Come visit for Ultra if you're young, dumb, and want to roll and party for 3 days straight! (like EDM in Vegas) Come to Miami if you want to drop way too much money you probably don't have on clubbing that's only marginally better than you can find in LA or SF or Chicago, DC, or NYC just so you can rub shoulders with a certain rich crowd that justifies their life by partying! To me that screams, visit, but don't live. And your post is just gross. I could pull in 7 figures a year and be just as grossed out by having to pay some sleazy club operation $200, $500, $2,000 just to enter. I wouldn't necessarily say that people in Miami can afford more than people in San Francisco. People in the latter are able to afford those $4000 for a studio rents, which means they are pulling in $150k +, a salary that is just not that common in FL. However, these same people are probably occasionally (being the key word) going to a local club that charges a mere human-scale $20 for entry once every month or quarter and hitting up the bars and chatting with peers the rest of the time. Bonding and talking ideas over drinks is more important to people in productive, important cities than rolling in a club and pretending you're someone you're not every single weekend, as is the common lifestyle in SoFla.
Been out to the bars in them all at least once, most of the multiple times.
Personally, I would rank them:
New York
Chicago
New Orleans
San Francisco
Montreal
Los Angeles-Miami-Las Vegas
The last three are all fairly even for totally different reasons. The first three are my favorite to go out, San Fran was fun and so was Montreal.
I like the big diversification in NYC and Chicago. I love dive/neighborhood bars and those cities do it quite well. My main focus when going out in a city is being able to easily get from hotel to bar to bar by either walking, taking a train or a quick cab ride. It always weirds me out when I go visit people or go out in a city and a car is the focal point of getting to bars/home/between bars. Seems so "wrong".
And no offense, but this is why Miami is only good for an occasional visit. Your post clearly demonstrates how utterly vapid you are, and yet you're merely typical. As I (and others) have said, it's the PEOPLE in Miami that one can only take in small doses and actually bring the nightlife in Miami down a notch.
And your entire post reads as a fat girl being spiteful to the hot blonde, calling her dumb, her **** fake, and a "" well another word for promiscuous
Let's discuss things a bit here shall we?
Quote:
I have already stated that San Francisco as a whole caters to its residents.
And Miami does as well, Miami Beach doesn't. Miami Beach is for the elite, Brickell, Wynwood, Little Havana and many other such neighborhoods have local only scenes because they don't draw the elite or the tourists. It's the byproduct of having such a nightlife, we attract too many people. If you had such nightlife you would too (and you do somewhat just not at our level).
Quote:
Many of its residents are very rich, genuinely richer than residents in Miami and more discreet
Miami is a weird place. In one space, it's very poor, on the other it's very very rich. Richer than San Francisco. We are America's Monaco, and we have millionaires, billionaires all clamoring to have a house here and spending part of the time of their season as well. Like I said I know people who blow 50k a night here, get your head around that.
What's funny in all of this is I'm an iOS developer, and some of the companies I work for (do consulting) are based in the Bay Area. I live here even though it would be easier for me to live in San Francisco because I genuinely love Miami. I feel at home here.
Quote:
This is why bar scenes in both cities are more important, generally, to locals than club scenes, which are for occasions.
The reason your bar scene is "good" is because you're pedestrian friendly city and lacking the club scene (though your club scene is ok, better than some other cities). However I don't consider a good bar scene that closes at 2am. Doesn't let you smoke inside (though in some holes I bet you can find a bar that lets you do it).
New Orleans-LOVE NOLA-live music, cheap drinks, fun people, good food, not pretentious, open late-Frenchman St was amazing!
NYC-Lived here during College and had a blast, but some bars are way overpriced with horrible beer selection. Sometimes I'd have more fun in The Bronx/Rockaway/Yonkers versus Manhattan. Why does everyone in NYC seem to drink $7 BudLights? The sheer magnitude/diversity of NYC should have it near the top of everyone's list though.
Montreal-Had a great time as an 18 year old Freshman in College on Spring Break. I like Montreal a lot, and would like to experience it now that I'm a little older.
Las Vegas-Have been to Vegas twice and it's hard not to have a good time-very fake and overpriced though.
Chicago-I like Chicago alot, My trip was very Wrigleyville focused which seems like it could get old fast, but I know there are way more aspects to Chicago nightlife I'd like to experience.
Miami Beach-Very fantasy like/fake, overpriced, bad music blasting everywhere. I have heard that it is better to go out in the actual city of Miami for these reasons but I have never done that.
San Francisco-I like SF ALOT but nightlife doesn't seem to be it's strong point. Seemed to close early and was kind of tame.
NYC is big enough where you can find anything you're looking for. New Orleans is a lot smaller, but they have great bars, great live music and a more natural and unique feel than the other cities on the list. Then on the opposite end you have cities like Miami and Las Vegas where everything feels fake, plastic and generic. As someone else mentioned, Miami is the type of place where I would want to go out maybe once of twice a year and then I would be sick of it. New Orleans and NYC are the types of cities where I would like to go out over and over again. Miami is very over priced, over hyped and overrated compared to other cities, imo.
LV is LV. Enough said. And again, it's not a city of locals with local scenes (at least apparently). That's great for a visit or bachelor party and I'll be there next month, but in my opinion that's it.
I've met locals in Vegas before. The City Center complex is a mix of condos and hotels and you run into quite a few locals there. One resident told me that the nightlife for locals is a mix of bars and restaurants off the Strip, some establishments Downtown, and the Vegas megaclub on occasion. I think they definitely have their own local scene but the average tourist doesn't see it.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
). No offense, but I think most people who have been to Miami and experienced its nightlife would agree with me that it is one of the most one-dimensional places (WHICH IS WHY PEOPLE VISIT...IT CATERS TO VISITORS WANTING TO PARTY).
