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Living in Chicago, and being past the age of traditional nightlife needs, here are my observations.
1) There is still the desire to go to nightclubs amongst young people, but not as much.
2) There is not as much a need to "bar hop" however - people go to 1 maybe 2 places in a night, mostly.
3) Safety is a much bigger issue in larger American cities now than in the 90s/naughts (when I was more interested)
4) The cost is prohibitive to a larger portion of younger people. They are mostly struggling financially, especially post-Covid.
5) The increase in cannabis use/availability is making more young people want to "chill out" instead of drink and go crazy at a club. This is a big one and contributes to #1.
Living in Chicago, and being past the age of traditional nightlife needs, here are my observations.
1) There is still the desire to go to nightclubs amongst young people, but not as much.
2) There is not as much a need to "bar hop" however - people go to 1 maybe 2 places in a night, mostly.
3) Safety is a much bigger issue in larger American cities now than in the 90s/naughts (when I was more interested)
4) The cost is prohibitive to a larger portion of younger people. They are mostly struggling financially, especially post-Covid.
5) The increase in cannabis use/availability is making more young people want to "chill out" instead of drink and go crazy at a club. This is a big one and contributes to #1.
This is a big one that I don't think can be overstated.
This is a big one that I don't think can be overstated.
Number 4 in his list is also a big one. I know a place that charges 14 dollars for green tea shots and those green tea shots are premade. Beer isn't that expensive in most places but cocktails are wild expensive now.
Number 4 in his list is also a big one. I know a place that charges 14 dollars for green tea shots and those green tea shots are premade. Beer isn't that expensive in most places but cocktails are wild expensive now.
Yes. The prices are insane. My daughter is 23 and goes occasionally. She gets 1 drink only, unless she gets "in" as part of a group that is getting a bottle through a connection.
I've read reviews of places she's gone. Some charge $30 just to enter. Then cocktails are $20+. Also, unless you are at a table getting bottle service it's hard to get a drink.
"kids" are getting wise and going to places that aren't "clubs" per se as much. They may go to a rooftop bar that has no cover and that's a totally different vibe. Or they go to a restaurant with live music. There are also these "Instagrammable" joints that set up places to take pictures, and people will hang there with a beverage.
IMHO there will always be a nightclub demand but it's a much smaller one these days.
Guessing in Europe it's safer or cheaper or just a much longer part of the subculture.
Living in Chicago, and being past the age of traditional nightlife needs, here are my observations.
1) There is still the desire to go to nightclubs amongst young people, but not as much.
2) There is not as much a need to "bar hop" however - people go to 1 maybe 2 places in a night, mostly.
3) Safety is a much bigger issue in larger American cities now than in the 90s/naughts (when I was more interested)
4) The cost is prohibitive to a larger portion of younger people. They are mostly struggling financially, especially post-Covid.
5) The increase in cannabis use/availability is making more young people want to "chill out" instead of drink and go crazy at a club. This is a big one and contributes to #1.
Crime is considerably lower now than it was in the 90s!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kmanshouse
Yes. The prices are insane. My daughter is 23 and goes occasionally. She gets 1 drink only, unless she gets "in" as part of a group that is getting a bottle through a connection.
I've read reviews of places she's gone. Some charge $30 just to enter. Then cocktails are $20+. Also, unless you are at a table getting bottle service it's hard to get a drink.
"kids" are getting wise and going to places that aren't "clubs" per se as much. They may go to a rooftop bar that has no cover and that's a totally different vibe. Or they go to a restaurant with live music. There are also these "Instagrammable" joints that set up places to take pictures, and people will hang there with a beverage.
IMHO there will always be a nightclub demand but it's a much smaller one these days.
Guessing in Europe it's safer or cheaper or just a much longer part of the subculture.
You do know that normal bars still exist right? Most people are going to bars.
I grew up in Valencia, Spain and then lived in Tokyo and Singapore respectively for about 2 years each. In 2016 I moved to the US with my wife, who grew up in Boston. We lived in Boston for a year and a half, had a brief stint in Minneapolis and then moved to Denver for work where we have resided evers since.
I love America - I'm a huge fan of the great outdoors and loved exploring the scenic areas and small towns of New England, and now since we've moved to Colorado I've taken on hiking and skiing as major hobbies, and we've taken our young son camping several times. People in America are extremely friendly as well compared to most other places from my experience. People are open and will talk to you, as opposed to other parts of the world I've lived in where people tend to keep to themselves more. I've also grown to love football and hockey, sports which I was not as familiar with.
My one major complaint about America is nightlife. I wouldn't say it's bad, but more like it just doesn't really exist. Boston and Denver are absolutely dead after midnight and even between 10-midnight everything is super sleepy. Yes there are bars open after midnight in every city in the country, but overall there is just a lack of a lively atmosphere and it seems pretty much everything else shuts down by 10. This is in major contrast to other cities in the world where you can find cafes, shops, bars, restaurants and many other things open much later into the night and there are actually people out and about walking around well after 10pm.
I have visited the cities like New York and Las Vegas and it's true those cities seemed to have more going on late at night. And I've met people in Denver who are from other parts of the country who say Denver is especially bad for nightlife and that other cities are better. But from my experience it seems the majority of cities in US are like Boston and Denver, and I have a hard time understanding why.
Is it because of safety issues like gun violence? Is it because people are more into getting better sleep and prefer to wake up early? Why do you think everything shuts down so early and that nightlife in most America cities is not of the same level as other parts of the world?
It's a cultural issue and not a safety issue. Most nightlife is at house parties rather than at bars. We are an earlier in the day culture than anywhere in the southern half (possibly southern 2/3) of Europe.
Having said that, none of the cities you are mentioning are high tier nightlife cities (Boston, Minneapolis, Denver).
I'd really focus on these few: NYC, LA, Las Vegas, Miami, New Orleans, Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta (not super nightlife scene IMO but a lot of it is open pretty late compared w/ other U.S. cities)
Crime is considerably lower now than it was in the 90s!
You do know that normal bars still exist right? Most people are going to bars.
Of course, including me.
But when I hear "nightlife", I think of the post 10pm crowd. Bars that are open past about midnight are more rare these days.
I live in the heart of Chicago, so I have a pretty good pulse of this. The 2am bars are mostly nightclubs - or the occasional neighborhood pub/bar that are mostly attended by people living nearby (not "destination" bars). People staying out super late are typically at clubs.
But when I hear "nightlife", I think of the post 10pm crowd. Bars that are open past about midnight are more rare these days.
I live in the heart of Chicago, so I have a pretty good pulse of this. The 2am bars are mostly nightclubs - or the occasional neighborhood pub/bar that are mostly attended by people living nearby (not "destination" bars). People staying out super late are typically at clubs.
I live in the heart of Denver, most bars are open past midnight until you get into more sleepy neighborhoods.
I wouldn't call 2am super late by nightlife standards but in my experience it's mostly bars because most cities only have a handful of nightclubs versus regular bars.
Even NYC is booty now for partying. Everything changed after COVID
But one thing I noticed is Spaniards start their day much later than Americans. Everyone in the states is up at 7am. My Spanish/Portuguese family sleeps till 9. What is 12am here is like 3am there.
Also another thing to consider is that local time and solar time don’t always align. Madrid is 141 minutes (2.35 hours)ahead of solar time while Boston is only 50 minutes ahead.
Meaning true noon (when the sun is at the highest point) in Madrid is at 2:21 pm while in Boston it’s at 12:50 pm, and thus true midnight is 2:21 am and 12:50 am respectively.
Living in Chicago, and being past the age of traditional nightlife needs, here are my observations.
2) There is not as much a need to "bar hop" however - people go to 1 maybe 2 places in a night, mostly.
3) Safety is a much bigger issue in larger American cities now than in the 90s/naughts (when I was more interested)
.
2) what do you mean by a need? Whats changed
and 3) i dont think this is borne out by statistics. It might only be applicable to a handful of cities - maybe in the PNW
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