People live in and amongst bars and clubs all the time. In London, Soho is a packed bar/restaurant zone, which doesn't stop there being plenty of people living there. As for new high-rise buildings, there are new buildings in Vancouver which have bars or clubs on the ground/basement floors, offices directly above and then residential above that. The offices effectively insulate the residential floors from the noises below.
It's just a shame a little of Vancouver's high-rise flair can't find it's way to Hamilton, cause IMHO that building is ugly as
but that's my opinion.