Downtown Houston looks so different now

[ultright]

Originally Posted by kwr

Downtown’s speciality is bars.

It always has had its bars, but that's kind of a one-dimensional scene, and only happens in one part of downtown.


Although for that 1980s vibe you can hit this place:


https://www.birraporettishouston.com/

[AcresHomes44]

Originally Posted by Westpark Village

No, DT Houston was already revitalizing in the very late 90’s and early 2000s.

Downtown Houston became hot in the 2010s because of the mass migrations to Houston.

DT's true resurgence began around mid to late 2000s and is still continuing to this day. Late 90s, Downtown Houston had nowhere near the action it sees today.

Originally Posted by TallGreengrass

Is Downtown nightlife dead? We used to party-hardy downtown back in the 90’s and segued into Midtown but party-poopered out by the time Washington was getting big. Is that the place to go now? I know its covid but do people still party during the week? Is Happy Hour still a thing? Man, I wish Uber existed 20 years ago!

Downtown nightlife is lively some nights, others it's dead. On game nights and where there's major events going on Downtown, DT nightlife is way more active.

[LocalPlanner]

Originally Posted by AcresHomes44

DT's true resurgence began around mid to late 2000s and is still continuing to this day. Late 90s, Downtown Houston had nowhere near the action it sees today.



Downtown nightlife is lively some nights, others it's dead. On game nights and where there's major events going on Downtown, DT nightlife is way more active.

Actually Downtown's first resurgence did happen in the late 1990s - after the Richmond Strip faded, then Shepherd Plaza had a brief (1-2) year run, the club / bar scene migrated Downtown around 1999. It lasted a couple years, then the street and light rail construction frustrated folks (there was also a national recession, Enron bankruptcy, TS Allison, 9/11 etc. on top of this) and the scene migrated to northwest Midtown, where it's managed to hold on since even as Washington Avenue also came up. Downtown went dead again from 2001 to some time in the early 2010s when some bar owners from locations in other Houston neighborhoods collectively decided to reinvest in the Historic District, with classier / more civilized venues than in the circa-1999 iteration (more adult bars, fewer "bangin'" dance clubs catering to silly hormonal teens and 20-somethings). This fortunately coincided with the fracking boom, and the scene has been pretty good ever since, apart from COVID.

[ultright]

"Downtown" is pretty big. Yes, there's a bar area for sedate yuppie drinking. The rest of it is kind of a shambolic comedy, especially around McGovern, but Midtown is encroaching. Spec's is sort of the line between the cocaine crowd and the really interesting drugs crowd.