Proof downtown Phoenix is tilting the nightlife desirability index in the Valley (Scottsdale: DMV, pharmacies)

[sexxxcblac]

Street musicians !
I was downtown this weekend and noticed street musicians posted up on various corners .
Normally you see this phenomenon where's a nice concentration of people like Mill Av.
In addition, the Phoenix Suns played Sunday so there were no sporting events downtown Saturday night.

[DetroitN8V]

I was downtown Saturday night too and had a great time. Restaurants and bars were busy and there were people out and about. It felt (almost) like a city! Downtown is definitely more active than it was just a couple years ago.

To the naysayers, go the The Duce, Valley Bar, Angels Trumpet, Blue Hound, Cobra Bar, Bitter and Twisted, Hanny's or any other spot around and see for yourself. You'll have a good time. Looking forward to the opening of The Park.

[i'm not a cookie]

I agree went to bitter and twisted the other week and as I was sitting at the bar, I turned around to look out of the window and saw the metro full of people going by, people walking and enjoying themselves, and I just felt a huge energy. I then walked to the rooftop bar in dtphx and it was full of people. Was nice to have a drink while overlooking the city lights. As the night ended I thought to myself "WOW downtown Phoenix is really starting to feel like a REAL city" lol .

[sargeant79]

Originally Posted by DetroitN8V

I was downtown Saturday night too and had a great time. Restaurants and bars were busy and there were people out and about. It felt (almost) like a city! Downtown is definitely more active than it was just a couple years ago.

To the naysayers, go the The Duce, Valley Bar, Angels Trumpet, Blue Hound, Cobra Bar, Bitter and Twisted, Hanny's or any other spot around and see for yourself. You'll have a good time. Looking forward to the opening of The Park.

I was downtown Saturday night as well. My little group hit up about 4 different bars and all of them were packed. Lustre was so busy that they were catching people at the elevators and stopped letting people in, and the line for Cobra Arcade Bar was down to the entrance for Film Bar. I realize it's one of the busier party nights of the year but still nice to see so much nightlife activity going on. And it really isn't that far off from this on a normal Saturday night anymore.

[locolife]

Oh yes, it is and it seems like every week there are announcements of more entertainment, jobs and housing being announced.

[BIG CATS]

Yes, PHX is heading in the right direction, we all know that and can agree on that. But street musicians? How is that an indicator that nightlife is tilting in favor of Phoenix? lol What a strange thing to say. To me, it says "hey, look! There's even more people downtown w/o jobs trying to make a buck off passerby." Ill give em the thumbs up for not standing on the corner with a sign, though. lol


Sorry, Phoenicians, Scottsdale is still the nightlife capital of the Southwest. And by quite a longshot, too. That's not a bad thing, so before you naysayers and Debbie Downers spew forth, just take it for what it is... Scottsdale nailed it! Phoenix is trying hard, so major kudos to PHX!

[asufan]

This needs to happen on a random Thursday night too, not just on a Saturday night when there's a hugely popular Zombie Walk and then everyone goes home. It's getting better for sure, but it is not there yet without the events.

[azriverfan.]

I interact with a lot of young medical residents, and students as an educator. I get a lot of feedback from them about where they live etc. I am seeing that a lot more of them are choosing to live in downtown and midtown Phoenix. That is a stark change from even 4 years ago. They all lived in Scottsdale and Phoenix was not even a consideration. To a lot of "hipsters" Scottsdale has become passe and they desire live music, restaurants and an arts scene rather than the Vegas style of nightlife you see in Scottsdale. Don't get me wrong, Scottsdale is always going to be popular but at least now, you have another outlet for people who want something different.

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by asufan

This needs to happen on a random Thursday night too, not just on a Saturday night when there's a hugely popular Zombie Walk and then everyone goes home. It's getting better for sure, but it is not there yet without the events.

The reason is it is not livable yet. Phoenix just got a grocery store approved there. You need more than that for people to take it seriously. Besides a grocery store, a full time department store like Target needs to establish there. You need unique stores to draw people from all over the city there. They need more parking structures. And then basis to day to day items need to be there, gas stations, DMV, more pharmacies, more than one type of grocery store (Trader Joes, Whole Foods etc).

[locolife]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

I interact with a lot of young medical residents, and students as an educator. I get a lot of feedback from them about where they live etc. I am seeing that a lot more of them are choosing to live in downtown and midtown Phoenix. That is a stark change from even 4 years ago. They all lived in Scottsdale and Phoenix was not even a consideration. To a lot of "hipsters" Scottsdale has become passe and they desire live music, restaurants and an arts scene rather than the Vegas style of nightlife you see in Scottsdale. Don't get me wrong, Scottsdale is always going to be popular but at least now, you have another outlet for people who want something different.

Yeah, the changes has been abrupt and very noticeable. It seems that the energy downtown has just started to grow, whereas Scottsdale kind of peaked and will probably about where it is since the city seems fairly set against adding much more density then what is there now. Of course that mindset could change in the future...