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I'll say it again. Not sure why this isn't a bigger part of the discussion.
Spain's drinking age is 18. The US is 21, probably everywhere by now. This is a huge factor.
Don't think so. I drank frequently at 18. Even in high school, it's very common in the US.
The problem is we don't have an urban culture around the country.
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?
Most American culture is about working and building wealth and material goods instead of partying and enjoying life. I also think that because most of America is dangerous during the night, people just make it a point to retire for the evening at a fairly early time.
I grew up in the New Orleans metro and the attitude about enjoying life is closer to what you see in South America and to some degree southern Europe. But the overwhelming majority of US cities is pretty dead in comparison to most other countries I've spent time in.
Most American culture is about working and building wealth and material goods instead of partying and enjoying life. I also think that because most of America is dangerous during the night, people just make it a point to retire for the evening at a fairly early time.
I grew up in the New Orleans metro and the attitude about enjoying life is closer to what you see in South America and to some degree southern Europe. But the overwhelming majority of US cities is pretty dead in comparison to most other countries I've spent time in.
This is a blatant and flat out lie. You must have grown up in Covington to think that the richest country in the world is dangerous at night. Absolutely ridiculous.
The counterproductive COVID lockdowns annihilated nightlife all across the U.S. Gas stations and fast-food drive-thrus are about the only places left that are open past midnight, much less 24 hours, and even then, there are fewer of both staying open that late than before. And now that we all have entertainment on demand on our magic little screens, I don't see this problem reversing itself anytime soon, if ever again.
The problem is we don't have an urban culture around the country.
Exactly, bingo.
Summarizes it very well.
The US is largely now "suburban" in population, and almost everything happens in the suburbs where people live. Shopping, school, religion, food/drink, errands, entertainment, "nightlife"--and now even work, with the pandemic and the remote shift.
My sister and husband are a perfect example of this. They live in Cobb County in metro Atlanta.
They rarely ever venture into Atlanta for ANYTHING. Only to go to the airport to pick someone up or fly out (LOL), or they treat Atlanta as a day tourist thing.
For example, they'll go to the zoo like once a year, or go to Stone Mountain one Saturday in the summer, or head down to Virginia Highlands maybe twice a year to hang out. I think they have ventured out to Old Fourth Ward and Ponce City Market several times since the fall, so that is a more frequent trip for them.
But yeah, their favorite bar and restaurant spots they frequent are in the suburbs, and they'll head out for a late night that wraps at maybe 11pm, a couple times a month.
I think many folks in the suburbs treat the cities the live near like this-it's just the nature of where folks live, and the automobile culture.
The US is largely now "suburban" in population, and almost everything happens in the suburbs where people live. Shopping, school, religion, food/drink, errands, entertainment, "nightlife"--and now even work, with the pandemic and the remote shift.
My sister and husband are a perfect example of this. They live in Cobb County in metro Atlanta.
They rarely ever venture into Atlanta for ANYTHING. Only to go to the airport to pick someone up or fly out (LOL), or they treat Atlanta as a day tourist thing.
For example, they'll go to the zoo like once a year, or go to Stone Mountain one Saturday in the summer, or head down to Virginia Highlands maybe twice a year to hang out. I think they have ventured out to Old Fourth Ward and Ponce City Market several times since the fall, so that is a more frequent trip for them.
But yeah, their favorite bar and restaurant spots they frequent are in the suburbs, and they'll head out for a late night that wraps at maybe 11pm, a couple times a month.
I think many folks in the suburbs treat the cities the live near like this-it's just the nature of where folks live, and the automobile culture.
TBH even work isn't always in the CBD for many years - who do you think works at all those sprawling suburban office parks?
For the bar/restaurant part - sometimes it's not like you don't want to go to a place in, let say, Midtown Atlanta. It's more like, outside of special occasion, it's somewhat of a hassle as you have to drive for 30 minutes, find parking (and pay for it), then drive back. This is where "lack of urban culture" really hits. And no, even if mass transit is safe (it can be sketchy) at night, somebody that lives in, let say, Dunwoody is still probably not going to go to places like Buckhead all the time as that still takes time. They would just eat at places near Perimeter Mall or Chamblee Dunwoody Road.
How does US nightlife compare to nightlife in Australia, Canada and the UK?
At least Canada, other than Montreal is probably worse than comparable American cities. Toronto is infamously bad (sort of Boston-like)
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