Does Seattle have the worst nightlife in the country? (Tacoma: house, neighborhoods)

[branh0913]

I'm a 33 year old IT professional, and I've been in Seattle for almost a year. But one of the first things I noticed is that Seattle has some of the worst night life I've seen in any city.


1:30 last call rule
Forceful and idiotic state laws
Introverted culture
Cliquish nightlife to a fault. no one talks to each other
No clubs to go to after 2 AM.
Very few fun places to go that are 24x7, unless you count a random QFC or Walgreens


I remember a few weeks ago, going out and then coming home at 2 AM. I was wide awake, and wanted to do more stuff, then I just thought to myself "There isn't anything else to do". I mean Seattle has hands down the worst nightlife I've seen in a major city. It seems like if you don't like camping or hiking you won't have much to do. And it seems like people only go over other people's house and smoke pot. It doesn't help that most people in Seattle have been living here their entire lives, and only mingle with their friends that they've known since high school.

I hate to say this, but Seattle is a hideously boring city. If you just want to go camping, and sit around the house most of the time, this city is the best. The thing is, it's such a beautiful city, that you'd think there would be more stuff to do. But nope! It wouldn't be so bad if you could meet cool people in Seattle, but if you're not some ******* pot smoker, good luck connecting with anyone.

Seems like the single life in Seattle sucks. The population is just not outgoing. I like the fact I can make so much money here, but geez I don't want to work my ass off just to sit at home and stare at the wall on weekends.

[cylee777]

I'm trynna relocate to New Orleans. If you want a good night life and a cheap place to live you should do the same. But depends on individual though. You see, Seattle might be better for you career-wise as you're an IT professional. If you don't have family, then I say just work and save up plenty of cash then look for IT jobs down there in New Orleans.

Also be warned, people on this board are pretty ****ing defensive and sensitive in case if you haven't noticed and any slight criticism toward this city will be flamed. That's why I don't even really post on Seattle board much anymore. Ain't got no time to **** with these clowns. I mostly concentrated on New Orleans board to gather info and perhaps physically visiting the place next year to see how it is.

[eskercurve]

Sorry to hear your nightlife hasn't been the greatest.

Personally, I think this is one of the biggest reasons why people go up to Canada on the weekends. Up there, the 19 drinking age combined with more and better clubs that actually stay open late is one of the reasons so many do go up there. I have a coworker who basically did that all the way until he was 32, then his parents threatened to cut him off or something and told him to get married.

Anyway, That's my piece of advice, go to Vancouver for the nightlife. The nightlife here is wine bar / cocktails / bar sorta place, with local indie bands playing in small venues like in Fremont, and the places in downtown along 1st and the college around there get old quick. Kinda surprising you haven't met any out of towners. They make up at least half the population, so I'm thinking part of the problem is your attitude or approach. We're not LA and we're not NYC or San Fran. Get over it.

As for the worst in the nation, nah. Cincinnati was pretty sh*t. So was St. Louis, and there it was hard to make friends who weren't closed minded Republitards (not to be confused with the moderate Republicans who can debate and not get insulted that someone doesn't believe in Gawd 'n Coontray). Seattle is Times Square in comparison.

[JasR30]

The night life aspect is the one thing that I think Seattle lacks as well. When I used to live there I would spend frequent weekends in Portland and Vancouver to have a great party weekend.

Try spending a weekend in Portland. They have incredible strip clubs (which serve alcohol, unlike Seattle) and they serve alcohol much later.

[orzo]

Originally Posted by branh0913

I'm a 33 year old IT professional, and I've been in Seattle for almost a year. But one of the first things I noticed is that Seattle has some of the worst night life I've seen in any city.


1:30 last call rule
Forceful and idiotic state laws
Introverted culture
Cliquish nightlife to a fault. no one talks to each other
No clubs to go to after 2 AM.
Very few fun places to go that are 24x7, unless you count a random QFC or Walgreens


I remember a few weeks ago, going out and then coming home at 2 AM. I was wide awake, and wanted to do more stuff, then I just thought to myself "There isn't anything else to do". I mean Seattle has hands down the worst nightlife I've seen in a major city. It seems like if you don't like camping or hiking you won't have much to do. And it seems like people only go over other people's house and smoke pot. It doesn't help that most people in Seattle have been living here their entire lives, and only mingle with their friends that they've known since high school.

I hate to say this, but Seattle is a hideously boring city. If you just want to go camping, and sit around the house most of the time, this city is the best. The thing is, it's such a beautiful city, that you'd think there would be more stuff to do. But nope! It wouldn't be so bad if you could meet cool people in Seattle, but if you're not some ******* pot smoker, good luck connecting with anyone.

Seems like the single life in Seattle sucks. The population is just not outgoing. I like the fact I can make so much money here, but geez I don't want to work my ass off just to sit at home and stare at the wall on weekends.

I'm not sure I fully agree with this - a lot of cities in the US have a 2 am cutoff, and Seattle has a decent number of fun nightlife districts.

Have you been to Pike/Pine/Olive on the weekends? There are about 70-80 bars and clubs in a small area and the streets are packed until way past 2am (when everyone floods out and waits in line at hot dog stands and other food places). Here's a video of people waiting in lines for bars and clubs in the area:


IMG1012 1) - YouTube

Also, Ballard Ave/Market Street have about 40 bars or so and it gets fairly bustling on the weekends, as does Fremont, Belltown Georgetown, etc.. Then there are plenty of neighborhood bars and pubs throughout the City.

Again, not saying Seattle is great for nightlife by any stretch, but it's not nearly as bad as you say. There are several major cities that I'd take Seattle's nightlife over. (Interestingly, according to Yelp it has more bars/pubs per capita than most US cities.)

[Steve Bowen]

Yeah, there's not much nightlife after 2:00 AM. You may want to check out noc noc, near as I can tell it's Seattle's only after-hours club.

[beautifulseattlehomes]

I used to think the same thing a long time ago when I was single..actually thought Seattle was a tough place to meet people and seriously lacking in those that let down their hair and know how to just have a good old time...then I met my husband and am now married living in the city...we always have fun when we go out..Pike/Pine and Ballard being our two favorite areas for nightlife.. tons of our friends, all married now, have house parties too and everyone gets their groove on and can stay up as late as they want!! We spin good tunes, dance and make great cocktails : )...none of us are from here but all of us are here now and making the best of it....I think when you get to that "next stage" of your life, what Seattle has to offer will feel great...

I do think it can be a tough city to be single in and a newcomer to boot! Though isn't that true of many places, even the most fun ones...my single friends in Manhattan and DC, male and female complained about that endlessly.

There are so many people here now that aren't from here that I actually think the vibe of the city has changed dramatically in the last ten years...A year isn't a long time...no matter what city you were living in, it would take you some time to find a group of friends you have fun with and really want to hang out with. Give it some time...as my husband always says "in the meantime, it's great working weather"...

[Ankhharu]

Dallas closes at 2am and some of the surrounding suburbs make them clos at 1am. Liquor stores close at 9pm during the week and are closed on Sundays. In restaurants you can't serve alcohol on Sundays before noon.

Houston, they close at 2am as well.

Most of Michigan requires theirs to close at 2am.

Minneapolis - 2am

Salt Lake City has a 1:30am cutoff I believe.

[skidamarink]

I agree that the nightlife here is not impressive. I didn't expect it to be like L.A. or NYC but I would've at least expected more people in their 20s to be out at night. Ballard has like one or two bars for people 20s & 30s and the rest of them are full of 40+ year olds.

Capitol Hill is as good as it gets here but still not extravagant. People mostly go to bars and clubs with their friends and to watch music shows, not to meet people. The gay bars are fun, but the others are all boring pub atmospheres with people knit-in with their friends and not open to talking to others.

Belltown is just plain ghetto. Lots of fancy establishments but they are going downhill due to the crowds. I think the people that go there all drive up at night from Tacoma and Federal Way, because surely people like that cannot afford to live in Belltown. Fremont is following in it's footsteps, although Fremont's more of a college meat market.

There are few dance clubs in Seattle and the ones that do exist attract a ghetto fabulous crowd. I guess it's the weather that causes people to stay indoors and it just stays that way throughout the year.

Surprisingly, downtown Kirkland has a somewhat decent crowd at it's bars, although it's very small. I mostly see people in their 20s out there, which is odd considering Kirkland is not really an area known for attracting young people. Bellevue, on the other hand, is very upscale but probably best for those 30+

[Relegate]

Originally Posted by skidamarink

Ballard has like one or two bars for people 20s & 30s and the rest of them are full of 40+ year olds.

That's just not correct. Out of the the maybe 40-50 bars in Ballard, I can think of barely a handful that are geared towards the 40+ crowd. The vast majority are geared towards late 20s and early 30s, and that is who you see out and about in the neighborhood at night. There are also a handful geared towards early 20s.

In neighborhoods like Fremont, the U District, and (to some extent) Lower Queen Anne, most places are geared towards people in their early 20s.