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New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Miami, Montreal, Las Vegas, New Orleans.
Rank these places from 1-8, in your subjective order and explain the reasoning if you want to (most people probably wont).
Factors to consider are bars, nightclubs, lounges, concerts, raves, live shows, liquor laws, access to entertainment enhancing substances, hours of operation, the size and energy of the crowd, special annual events, stuff like that.
And I don't want to go beyond that, but of the cities I have experience in from this list, I'd say LA, SF, and Chicago all come after New York (me preferring SF simply because I like the scene dynamics and concentration/ease of getting around more, probably followed by Chicago because I like the people there and they are my kind of attractive, followed by LA).
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.
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.
NOLA is a bit one dimensional in my mind, as well. Great nightlife, but caters too much to tourists and drinkers and I would personally get sick and tired of it pretty quickly as there doesn't seem to be "enough" to explore that is different and separated from drunk American tourists (i.e. excellent city, but still a small city at the end of the day).
I've never even been to Montreal, let alone partied there. I would imagine I would put it in with LA, SF, and Chicago.
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?!? You most likely cannot afford legitimate/decent big city nightlife in totality when you're 17-25, especially if you're that young living in a big expensive city, so nightlife doesn't cater to you. Only in purely tourist party cities or cheaper/sunbelt cities are 17-25 year olds routinely admitted into top clubs and bars, some of which may host 18+ nights. That to me just turns me off.
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.
Yea there is a difference between visiting a place to party for a long weekend once or twice a year and being a full time resident of these cities and experiencing the nightlife. Two ways to look at this really. A long weekend in Vegas can be the best time ever, but at the same time it might not carry as much weight for 365 for some people, for example.
Will try to do two lists when I get back (one list will be extremely uninformed, the full time resident list).
New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Miami, Montreal, Las Vegas, New Orleans.
Rank these places from 1-8, in your subjective order and explain the reasoning if you want to (most people probably wont).
Factors to consider are bars, nightclubs, lounges, concerts, raves, live shows, liquor laws, access to entertainment enhancing substances, hours of operation, the size and energy of the crowd, special annual events, stuff like that.
Big annual events like Ultra/WMF or EDM? Honestly, unless you're 17-25, who cares?!?
No, events that are held annually that some of these cities may be known for. It has nothing at all to do with EDM or the like.
For example; New Orleans, Mardi Gras.
Those type of annual events. Plus that's generalizing people based on their age, just remember, it's pretty easy to generalize older crowds too. Very easy. A 17 year old is not the same as a 25 year old either, there's 8 years of a difference in arguably one of the most prominent stretches in a persons life. Night and day difference from a 17 year old to a 25 year old. Doesn't make sense to lump the two together into one camp.
^^^Huh? You're kind of back tracking here, though. Initially you gave off the impression that "big annual events" in your mind included electronic music festivals that the 17-25 year old crowd goes to. In 2015, there is far less a difference between a 17 and 25 year old than there was in say 1980, and even less a difference than there was in 1950. In 2015, it's easy and fair to generalize that adults that used to have the same level or maturity and responsibility at age 25 in 1950 are probably closer to 30 or even 35 in 2015. Such is the way the developed/American world has gone.
If you want to know about annual events of any kind, some of the more exciting ones in SF since I'm focused on that city are:
Bay to Breakers in June - again hard to describe such an event to someone who doesn't live in SF and can't get past big annual events that post-teeny-boppers fly to such as EDC and Ultra, but Bay to Breakers is significant enough.
Folsom Street Fair and Dore Alley (2 similar annual events that really would and could only be held in SF)
San Francisco Pride (millions are in the city each year for this for an entire weekend...Angelenos don't seem to care about their own Pride but don't ever seem to miss San Francisco's, for instance)
Easter in SF is also a big sacrilegious party event throughout the city each year where the city looks for yet another excuse to drink and party all weekend while the rest of the country gathers family together and goes to church and has easter egg hunts
Outside Lands and Treasure Island Music Festival
Fleet Week is also *huge* in San Francisco and you can find everyone in the city partying on boats and rooftops all weekend long
The city is so focused on events that cater to residents of the city, not poor young tourists that fly in. Things like St. Patrick's and SantaCon are big in the city. Halloween is huge. Street fairs are huge. Large WEEKLY congregations in the Presidio, Frat Mason, Dolores Park, and Alamo Square are a thing.
It's hard to explain a city like SF and its "party" atmosphere to someone who doesn't live in the city. Few cities can legitimately keep up...the whole city is made up of 20-45 year olds and the whole city is constantly drinking and partying, and looking for excuses to get into costume all year long. This is where San Francisco really epitomizes the live and let live atmosphere that characterizes California - and its density/concentration and the general acceptance of the populace lend themselves to creating this atmosphere.
^^^Huh? You're kind of back tracking here, though. Initially you gave off the impression that "big annual events" in your mind included electronic music festivals that the 17-25 year old crowd goes to.
No, there is no backtracking. It is a discussion on the Internet, so it is hard to follow everything a person says, I can understand how you were confused on that one topic (annual events) and maybe in the future I'll do a better job of getting my point across.
You brought the discussion from the other thread (unrelated to this thread) to this one with that. Yes, annual events CAN include EDM related stuff but I left it vague enough to where it shouldn't be the only thing being talked about, unless that's all a place has to offer (even still, there's 8 places in this thread, so it shouldn't be the only thing being talked about).
Calle Ocho, Carnival, J'Ouvert, Junkanoo, are all events in South Florida that provide nighttime debauchery for locals(and tourist) away from the pill-fed sphere of influence from the WMC/Ultra Fest and South Beach crowd. Let's not narrow South Floridas night life options to EDM and Pills. There's also Art Basel and all the events in Wynwood and the Design District.
Those SF events sound spiffy and well. But What makes Santa Con or those other alcohol-fueled events more mature than what could be found in Miami?
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