Next 24 hour American city?

[Dariusb]

As you know, NYC never sleeps. Do you think there are other American cities that could get to this level? I'd say Las Vegas, Chicago, San Francisco or Boston have the best chance of achieving this.

[craigs]

Las Vegas is already a true 24/7 city. There are a zillion people gambling, drinking, dining, etc. overnight, of course. But Las Vegas also has the nation's highest percentage (16.54%) of night-shift workers, who keep that party rolling. New Orleans has overnight drinking as well, but its nightlife is less diverse and is at a much smaller scale.

After those two, I suppose Chicago comes closest with its late closing times, especially on weekends, but it's technically not 24/7 and I haven't seen any indication it will go all the way.

Forget about Boston. Even in the decades when nightlife was more popular than it is now, Beantown still closed down early. And the California cities all have 2:00 a.m. closing times. You can party all night in Los Angeles, even on weeknights, but only if you already know where to go--so that doesn't really count. San Francisco used to have a rocking nightlife scene but that died out slowly over the last 30 years or so, and the trend seems to be earlier and earlier closing times.

[manchester united]

What about Philly?

[sopas ej]

I remember back in the mid-1990s when Vegas had a 24-hour video/record/CD store. I thought that was so cool back then; even in Los Angeles, Tower Records only stayed open until midnight (or 1am?) on Fridays and Saturdays.

Things have changed, though. I remember in LA when Melrose had a 24-hour erotica store. I learned a lot at that place during my late teens. . And on 3rd Street down from the Beverly Center there was a 24-hour bakery with really good pastries. It was great going there after clubbing, or when I worked the graveyard shift, getting breakfast there. Those were the days.

Thinking about it now, Los Angeles had way more 24-hour places back then.

[craigs]

Originally Posted by sopas ej

I remember back in the mid-1990s when Vegas had a 24-hour video/record/CD store. I thought that was so cool back then; even in Los Angeles, Tower Records only stayed open until midnight (or 1am?) on Fridays and Saturdays.

Things have changed, though. I remember in LA when Melrose had a 24-hour erotica store. I learned a lot at that place during my late teens. . And on 3rd Street down from the Beverly Center there was a 24-hour bakery with really good pastries. It was great going there after clubbing, or when I worked the graveyard shift, getting breakfast there. Those were the days.

Thinking about it now, Los Angeles had way more 24-hour places back then.

Don't forget the 24-hour Home Depot on Hollywood Boulevard (no longer 24/hr). I had to go there late one night when my now-husband came home late from work bartending and somehow broke the latch on our front door such that it wouldn't close.

Nightlife has been in decline across the country for decades, but COVID supercharged the trend.

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by craigs

Don't forget the 24-hour Home Depot on Hollywood Boulevard (no longer 24/hr). I had to go there late one night when my now-husband came home late from work bartending and somehow broke the latch on our front door such that it wouldn't close.

Nightlife has been in decline across the country for decades, but COVID supercharged the trend.

Oh yes, the 24-hour Home Depot! I forgot about that place. I heard that back in the day, that was a gay male pickup place. I never saw that happening myself, but I've only been there once or twice.

Fairfax Avenue had a 24-hour pizza/Italian food place; the food was mediocre but it was nice to go to when you wanted an after-hours bite, aside from the usual places. We used to go to a Mexican restaurant in Montebello that was open 24 hours called Ordoñez. Pretty good food, and it was the perfect drunk food. They had really good margaritas, too. But yeah, during/after the pandemic, they're no longer open 24 hours.

Edit: I just checked Ordoñez' hours, they close at 10pm Sunday through Thursday, but are open until 2am on Fridays and Saturdays.

[veep]

California keeps trying to extend last call to 4am in certain cities but it keeps failing. Who the hell is against California extending its last call? Is it just jealous old people mad at young people having fun?

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Originally Posted by Dariusb

As you know, NYC never sleeps. Do you think there are other American cities that could get to this level? I'd say Las Vegas, Chicago, San Francisco or Boston have the best chance of achieving this.

Boston and SF? They close up shop early. NYC isn't really 24 hours anymore.. Las Vegas certainly is and Miami Beach is probably the next closest thing

[Omaharocks]

Originally Posted by LosAngelesSportsFan

Boston and SF? They close up shop early. NYC isn't really 24 hours anymore.. Las Vegas certainly is and Miami Beach is probably the next closest thing

Yeah I was gonna say, of all major cities I'd say Boston is about the least likely to trend towards becoming a 24-hour city. As a former resident, their "nightlife" is dominated by sports bars.

As others have said, generally nightlife is on the decline, though Miami seems an exception. And of course, New Orleans, though maybe you'd already classify that as a 24-hour city.

Regardless, it won't be anywhere up north - the sun belt is far more predisposed to partying into the wee hours - Austin, L.A., - and Atlanta has a number of all night places even if the nightlife isn't super strong.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by craigs

Nightlife has been in decline across the country for decades, but COVID supercharged the trend.

Generational too I think. My niece and her boyfriend (mid 20's) don't drink and neither do most of their friends as is the case with several of my friends' kids that age bracket whereas when I was their age, almost everyone I knew went out at least a couple nights a week. I'm not sure what GenZ is doing on a Friday night but a lot of them aren't around for last call...

[mrnyc]

whats worse than 24hr drying up is all the bars not opening until late, like 5pm. day drinking is a lost art and the kids just dont drink anymore anyways. ha.

[EastSideHBG]

Originally Posted by manchester united

What about Philly?

No, similar to Boston in this area and since the pandemic it's gone the other direction. DC had a chance but seems to have gone this direction also.

And like JManc said the younger crew is just not living the same and my friends' kids and neighbors who are 21+ are super boring

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

whats worse than 24hr drying up is all the bars not opening until late, like 5pm. day drinking is a lost art and the kids just dont drink anymore anyways. ha.

This is where Mexican restaurants with a bar come in handy, especially the ones that serve breakfast.

But seriously, I guess it might also depend on the type of bar you wanna get your drink at? There's a bar near my work that opens at 11:30am (I've actually snuck a drink there one time on my lunch break), but yeah a craft brewing place near my work doesn't open until 4pm. I wanna say there are still some dive bars here and there that open at 8am.

[iheartthed]

Any place with a lot of third shift workers has the potential to be a 24-hour city. The Vegas strip definitely feels like a 24-hour place. And I agree with others that say Boston and SF are nowhere near 24-hour cities. Boston closes up shop earlier than just about any major city I can think of, and SF isn't too far behind in that regard.

The pandemic has changed NYC but it is still very much a 24-hour city. The main thing that has really changed about NYC is that it is harder than it used to be to find food after a certain hour, but this gap in restaurant service is starting to be filled by food trucks and food carts in places they wouldn't have been pre-pandemic.

[Crawford]

As others have mentioned, Boston is a big laggard in terms of nightlife. For whatever reason(s), it closes up shop early, and this was even true pre-pandemic.

[UrbanImpact]

Club culture has pretty much died with the exception of Day Clubs and Festivals. Even the gay clubs have taken a hit. Miami and Vegas come closest in my experience as far as nightlife. However even the Miami/Miami Beach have been hit with changing last call time calls within recent years (rowdy spring breakers sparked the change).

[sentinel]

Who the fuck needs to be up at 3-4am, unless you are working or going to/leaving work for the 3rd shift? Maybe it's the mid-40s in me talking, but even in my 20s, I did not have the energy nor desire to stay up super late into the wee hours of the morning. But then again, I've never been into cocaine, so maybe that's why.

[tdawg]

Looking backward, Atlanta in the 1990s had several bars and clubs that had grandfathered licenses to operate 24hrs/day. The city changed the laws, though, and they don't anymore. Sentinel, pretty funny. I'm in my early 50s now and in bed by 10pm but back in my 20s in Atlanta we wouldn't even go out until 2-3am. That was the era of underground house parties (and the rise of ecstacy).

[UrbanImpact]

Originally Posted by sentinel

Who the fuck needs to be up at 3-4am, unless you are working or going to/leaving work for the 3rd shift? Maybe it's the mid-40s in me talking, but even in my 20s, I did not have the energy nor desire to stay up super late into the wee hours of the morning. But then again, I've never been into cocaine, so maybe that's why.

I remember arriving to clubs like Sound Factory or Twilo in NYC at 3-4am in my 20s.

[MolsonExport]

The trend seems to signal that fewer cities will be 24/7. At least, outside of Asia, and maybe NYC.

In Canada, only Montreal comes close (and it is not 24/7, yet, although they are talking about removing the rule for bars to close at 3am).