My guess is the bar is just lame. There are plenty of cool bars that are packed every night in basically every place I've ever lived.
Death of the Neighborhood Bar
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Re: Death of the Neighborhood Bar
#12Article can't quite make up its mind whether it's about the death of bars or the death of one bar patron.
This is probably purposeful, to draw parallels. The author also can't quite make up his mind about whether drinking becoming less popular is good or bad.
It's relatable content. When you have a bunch of nostalgia and identity (and money, in this guy's case) invested into something, I guess it would be hard to admit that overall, it's categorically been to society's detriment.
Re: Death of the Neighborhood Bar
#13On the contrary, I’m a lifelong Mass guy whose been in Boston proper for 12 years, and the bars seem better than ever. I’m in Jamaica Plain and Turtle Swamp brewery is packed every weekend and expanded into the neighboring building, which was abandoned and dilapidated before they came. My wife and I met a couple there from the neighborhood and we became good friends, we just went to their wedding. Downtown JP is in a renaissance of success and local business activity. The death of bars in Boston is greatly exaggerated.
Re: Death of the Neighborhood Bar
#14Looks like the usual hatchetators are here to play.
Bars and pubs are not the same. Bars just serve alcohol, but pubs are public living rooms and centres of communal life. A pub is where life's milestones are celebrated, the departed are grieved, friendships are cemented, matches are made, and revolutions are plotted.
And some of us prefer the pleasures and pangs of gradual self-destruction to the quasi-religious cult of self-improvement.
Some of us truly our 'best selves' after a few pints of something dark and bitter.
I for one never trust anyone who doesn't drink.
Cheers!
Re: Death of the Neighborhood Bar
#15My guess is the bar is just lame. There are plenty of cool bars that are packed every night in basically every place I've ever lived.
A neighborhood bar is a place you go to see people you know will be there. Even if your friends aren't there, you'll still know the owner and the staff. The people you see there routinely are the "regulars" and the "locals." You're not going to the neighborhood bar to get sloppy drunk, loud or to pick up chicks. You aren't going there to "party."
A "cool bar" which is packed is usually too loud for conversation. If you want to sit and talk casually with people you know, then you won't go to the cool bar. If you go alone to a cool bar, then you might not talk to anyone. The atmosphere has too much going on for casual conversation. You can't overhear and engage with someone sitting at the opposite side of the bar.
This may sound lame, but one of the major themes of this article is loneliness. Regulars at the neighborhood bar might find that the bar is less lame than being lonely at home.
Re: Death of the Neighborhood Bar
#16Anybody think it's about price? At least the quoted guy thinks so
> Why go to a bar when you can go to a yoga class, WhatsApp your friends, crack open an inexpensive bottle of wine at home, and watch something on Amazon Prime?
And I do believe that if beer prices were 1/3 of the usual, you'll see way more customers. Boston and some other US cities I have visited have, inexplicably, very high prices for bars and restaurants. Then you add taxes and tips.
Add to that the American sprawl and if you are drinking a few beers, you'll need an Uber to/back home. That makes your night in the $70-100.
No wonder Americans don't have $2000-$3000/month to spend on after-work bars.
Re: Death of the Neighborhood Bar
#17My guess is the bar is just lame. There are plenty of cool bars that are packed every night in basically every place I've ever lived.
A neighborhood bar is a place you go to see people you know will be there. Even if your friends aren't there, you'll still know the owner and the staff. The people you see there routinely are the "regulars" and the "locals." You're not going to the neighborhood bar to get sloppy drunk, loud or to pick up chicks. You aren't going there to "party." A "cool bar" which is packed is usually too loud for conversation. If y…
I also know many bars like that and they are doing just fine, I also frequent them. However, they are decidedly not-lame.
Re: Death of the Neighborhood Bar
#18On any other planet the death of the bar industry would be hailed as a victory against alcoholism and date rape.
Downvoted to oblivion by the resident alcoholics...
Or perhaps it was downvoted by people who realize their own limited impressions of the world don't always reflect universal truths.
Re: Death of the Neighborhood Bar
#19If we remove alcohol from the equation I think whats more pertinent is the death of the “third place”. Churches are dying. If the article is to be extrapolated then smaller local bars are dying. Where do people go other than online to socialize. Thats important to understand.
As Harvard Professor Robert Putnam has pointed out: One of the effects of "increased diversity" is that there is a shift away from being a high-trust society. This causes, among other things, increased isolation and social disengagement.
No doubt this isn't the only cause of pubs / bars closing, but it is a real measurable effect.
Re: Death of the Neighborhood Bar
#20My guess is the bar is just lame. There are plenty of cool bars that are packed every night in basically every place I've ever lived.
A neighborhood bar is a place you go to see people you know will be there. Even if your friends aren't there, you'll still know the owner and the staff. The people you see there routinely are the "regulars" and the "locals." You're not going to the neighborhood bar to get sloppy drunk, loud or to pick up chicks. You aren't going there to "party." A "cool bar" which is packed is usually too loud for conversation. If y…
Absolutely! The best thing about the local is that you don't need to make any plans with anyone. You already have a pretty good idea who will be there.