> Many of my young friends with middle-class jobs from all over California and the East Coast have been moving to the Bay Area and settling in downtown Oakland. Their refrain is always the same: downtown is dead after 6 PM. Downtown Oakland went through a period of high-rise housing construction and grew by 7,300 people in twenty years. Nightlife had improved considerably since 2010 but it never got spectacularly vibrant, and now remote work and the decline of theaters is making its post-pandemic recovery slow.
> **3 — Limited Land Homogenizing Commercial Activity**
> Commercial zoning restricted to single-digit percentages of a city’s land makes demand for space highly competitive and prices out small businesses. High commercial rents in expensively-built, new apartment complexes tend to be vacant for longer periods of time because commercial leases often go as long as 10-years before a renewal so property owners are picky about who occupies commercial space. High rents and long leases favors more reliable businesses such as chain restaraunts where people eat out regularly.
> **4 — Night Time Is Stigmatized**
> I can’t say this is a major contributor because it’s not as if safer cities have vibrant nightlife either. But the association of crime and drinking had encouraged cities to enforce curfews and revoke liquor licenses, liberally. When a 7-11 in my city kept having unruly patrons, the city revoked its liquor license pretty quickly. Many laws in the U.S. dictate how late bars, clubs and venues serve alcohol and stay open (in California it’s until 2 A.M.) The general response to ill-behaved people is to curtail activities rather than depend on law enforcement to keep the peace.
> **5 — Cities Bulldozed Their Nightlife for Offices and Roadways**
> It’s largely forgotten but boring nightlife was intentional. American cities bulldozed dense areas with plentiful after-hours entertainment that were deemed seedy, such as bars, lounges, places with dancing, prostitution, gambling etc. and replaced them with boring office complexes. It was all the rave during the 1950s to early 1970s, known as urban renewal, and it succeeded at depopulating city centers.
!ping YIMBY
theloreofthelaw on
Haven’t read the article yet, but I’m predicting it’s because night life usually means drinking alcohol, and in America that usually means leaving your car parked… somewhere overnight while you go through the (often expensive) hassle of getting a ride home.
Edit: basically the first thing on the list, lol
Maximilianne on
Alcohol is bad for you and a good night sleep is much better to deliver maximum value to the shareholders
3 Comments
> Many of my young friends with middle-class jobs from all over California and the East Coast have been moving to the Bay Area and settling in downtown Oakland. Their refrain is always the same: downtown is dead after 6 PM. Downtown Oakland went through a period of high-rise housing construction and grew by 7,300 people in twenty years. Nightlife had improved considerably since 2010 but it never got spectacularly vibrant, and now remote work and the decline of theaters is making its post-pandemic recovery slow.
> I have a few theories as to why.
> **1 — Cars And Drinking Don’t Mix**
> **2 — Residential-Only Zoning Kills Neighborhood Entertainment**
> **3 — Limited Land Homogenizing Commercial Activity**
> Commercial zoning restricted to single-digit percentages of a city’s land makes demand for space highly competitive and prices out small businesses. High commercial rents in expensively-built, new apartment complexes tend to be vacant for longer periods of time because commercial leases often go as long as 10-years before a renewal so property owners are picky about who occupies commercial space. High rents and long leases favors more reliable businesses such as chain restaraunts where people eat out regularly.
> **4 — Night Time Is Stigmatized**
> I can’t say this is a major contributor because it’s not as if safer cities have vibrant nightlife either. But the association of crime and drinking had encouraged cities to enforce curfews and revoke liquor licenses, liberally. When a 7-11 in my city kept having unruly patrons, the city revoked its liquor license pretty quickly. Many laws in the U.S. dictate how late bars, clubs and venues serve alcohol and stay open (in California it’s until 2 A.M.) The general response to ill-behaved people is to curtail activities rather than depend on law enforcement to keep the peace.
> **5 — Cities Bulldozed Their Nightlife for Offices and Roadways**
> It’s largely forgotten but boring nightlife was intentional. American cities bulldozed dense areas with plentiful after-hours entertainment that were deemed seedy, such as bars, lounges, places with dancing, prostitution, gambling etc. and replaced them with boring office complexes. It was all the rave during the 1950s to early 1970s, known as urban renewal, and it succeeded at depopulating city centers.
!ping YIMBY
Haven’t read the article yet, but I’m predicting it’s because night life usually means drinking alcohol, and in America that usually means leaving your car parked… somewhere overnight while you go through the (often expensive) hassle of getting a ride home.
Edit: basically the first thing on the list, lol
Alcohol is bad for you and a good night sleep is much better to deliver maximum value to the shareholders