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.
#7. Coffee shops and independent art galleries, where yuppies and "urban hipsters" (whatever that means) who grew up in the suburbs can rail against the evils of sprawl and the monotony of suburban life. They can also take in "art" created by folks who are $20,000 or more in debt after four years of art school and are desperately trying to work it off making $9/hour at American Eagle Outfitters.
It's that last one - restaurants - that I don't understand. Who likes to eat a big meal late at night? Won't that just keep you up? I guess, if you're not planning on sleeping...
some people like late dinners. Some like going out to eat after the bars. Some just like a late night snack.
Nightlife is exactly what it sounds like. Life (Activity) at Night.
All of the options listed in the first post are nightlife, but it's a whole lot more than that. Nightlife is anything that is available or encourages people to be active at night. Bars (all sorts... dives to the most upscale and selective ones), Dance Clubs, Gentlemen's/ Chip'n Dales clubs, live music venues, concert halls, and the like are ALL obvious nightlife venues.
But nightlife is more than just those things. Restaurants open late/ all night are nightlife as they fuel OTHER activities that people are participating in. Most people don't just run out for a meal at midnight and go to bed (yeah, it would keep you up all night), but get food before, during, or after some other activity (like dancing, drinking, going to/coming from a concert, etc). Nothing is better than a late night pizza joint for after or during a late night of partying.
Nightlife can also be shopping. Many of the nation's (and the world's) great nightlife spots offer shopping until the late night or all night long. I mean shopping of every sort. Sure, late night boutiques and trendy shops may be a part of that, but so are late night grocers and pharmacies. A common factor in cities with a lot of nightlife is a very active day-life as well. Hard workers, busy colleges and institutions and people who generally work LOOOONG days demand shops and services be available after typical hours (typical hours being something along the lines of 9-5). Cities like New York have millions of people (many of them single or in relationships where both parties are employed full time) who work 12+ hour days and don't have the time to to go to the grocery store or pharmacy between 8am and 6pm and their spouse can't do it either. For that reason, stores and services need to be open far later than in most places. Then there's entertainment. People who work hard want to party hard. For that reason, the bars, clubs, etc all go into the early morning hours on a nightly basis.
In short, Entertainment is what people typically think of when they see the word, "nightlife." Cities that advertise nightlife in tourist brouchures typically do so in reference to their entertainment options too (bars, clubs, theater, etc). However, it's far more than that. An active lifestyle, including shopping, dining, services, etc, at night is nightlife too.
I see all these people considering places to move, and 'nightlife' is usually a pretty big factor. Almost all cities, even smaller ones, try to advertise their 'nightlife' as a reason to visit or move there.
Assuming that, by nightlife, they don't mean fishing for bass on the shore of a cow pond at 2am, drinking PBR from a can, and taking occasional pot-shots at a 'no trespassing' sign, what exactly IS night life? Does it mean...
1) Lots of bars to go to, preferably ones with loose women to take home with little effort.
2) Lots of bars to go to, where, even though you might not score, you can feel free to talk really loud, and drink all you want without getting stared at.
3) Really Loud Dance clubs with flashing lights.
4) Rock concerts with laser effects and/or live music clubs that smell like stale beer.
5) Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald belting out the blues in a smoke-filed basement speakeasy?
6) All of the above
7) Other (If so, what?)
(Could not figure out how to make this a survey, so I'll just do it the cheap way)
From a guys point of view.... Nightlife is a way to meet women and to hang out with male friends at a sports bars
"Nightlife" is activities that happen at night. Larger cities that are known for their nightlife have options that have nothing to do with bars. In New York we have gallery openings, lots of museums are open at night, theater, opera, dance, cabaret, concerts. A lot of people go to dinner after such events so the restaurants are open late. Here you can see a show and get dinner at 11:00 or even midnight. That's very hard to do elsewhere.
Nightlife is exactly what it sounds like. Life (Activity) at Night.
So, by that definition, if I can do ACTIVITIES like fishing, hiking, or coon shootin' at night, then that would make my area one with night life, right?
Or, must those activities cost $$ and be contained inside some sort of non-condemned, manmade structure in order to qualify as nightlife?
PS: Grocery shopping at night is entertainment for you?
So, by that definition, if I can do ACTIVITIES like fishing, hiking, or coon shootin' at night, then that would make my area one with night life, right?
Or, must those activities cost $$ and be contained inside some sort of non-condemned, manmade structure in order to qualify as nightlife?
PS: Grocery shopping at night is entertainment for you?
Hahaha. Well, I should have specified that the "life" portion of nightlife usually implies a concentration of people partaking, not just one individual. So if your community had late night fishing derbies, hiking trips and "coon shootin'" at night, then yeah... it would make your area one with nightlife. I've been to cities with late night ice skating and large numbers of people simply enjoying a walk down the street and I consider that nightlife, so I don't see why the activities you mentioned wouldn't qualify as nightlife if a decent number of people, besides yourself, took part in those activities at night. Otherwise you'd be the crazy guy shooting 'coons in the middle of the night!
I don't think those activities need to cost money. For instance, every summer I head down to Newport, Rhode Island with some friend with a 30-rack of beer and sit on one of the docks and socialize with the barhoopers passing by. The only cost to us is a pack of beer and we're doing it outdoors amongst other people doing similar things. Also, late night ice skating is also free often times and outdoors. Window shopping at night and visiting a gallery opening are often times free of charge. Most of the times, night life options will cost SOMETHING (what doesn't when you break it down), but it doesn't necessarily have to and it doesn't necessarily have to be indoors (I know a bunch of bars and restaurants that are outdoors).
Finally, I thought I mentioned that nightlife often implies entertainment but that isn't always the case (thus bringing up the example of grocery shopping). However, If you've even been to an inner-city grocery store at 2 am, you would probably find the particular clientelle MOST entertaining.
Hahaha. Well, I should have specified that the "life" portion of nightlife usually implies a concentration of people partaking, not just one individual. So if your community had late night fishing derbies, hiking trips and "coon shootin'" at night, then yeah... it would make your area one with nightlife. I've been to cities with late night ice skating and large numbers of people simply enjoying a walk down the street and I consider that nightlife, so I don't see why the activities you mentioned wouldn't qualify as nightlife if a decent number of people, besides yourself, took part in those activities at night. Otherwise you'd be the crazy guy shooting 'coons in the middle of the night!
I think most people would agree with that assessment, and I would indeed be considered the crazy coon hunter down there by the lake by myself at midnight. And then the cops would come.
I'm all for having fun, doing things, with friends, although I usually prefer to do them during the DAY, when we can SEE, and to sleep at night. The reason I started this thread is because I have this growing suspicion that when most people say 'nightlife' what they're really thinking is, 'getting hammered and hooking up'.
It was nice to read about some folks' alternatives to that.
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.
