re: Decline of the neighborhood bar

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Houston has them. I’ve got 2 breweries, a wine bar, a beach volleyball bar, and a shitty dive bar all walking distance from my house. And Petrol Station.

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That’s all the info the OT needs to find out where you live.

You done fricked up now baw

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Why not just have a bar in your house and have your friends drink there?

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I came crawling home last night, like many nights before:
I finally made it to my feet as she opened up the door.
And she said, "You're not gonna do this anymore."
She said: "I'm gonna' hire a wino to decorate our home,
"So you'll feel more at ease here, and you won't have to roam.
"We'll take out the dining room table, and put a bar along that wall.
"And a neon sign, to point the way, to our bathroom down the hall."
She said: "Just bring your Friday paycheck, and I'll cash them all right here.
"And I'll keep on tap - for all your friends, their favorite kinds of beer.
"And for you, I'll always keep in stock, those soft aluminum cans.
"And when you're feeling macho, you can crush them like a man."
She said: "We'll rip out all the carpet, and put sawdust on the floor.
"Serve hard boiled eggs and pretzels, and I won't cook no more.
"There'll be Monday night football, on T.V. above the bar.
"And a pay phone in the hallway, when your friends can't find their car."
She said: "I'm gonna' hire a wino to decorate our home,
"So you'll feel more at ease here, and you won't have to roam.
"We'll take out the dining room table, and put a bar along that wall.
"And a neon sign, to point the way, to our bathroom down the hall."
She said: "You'll get friendly service, and for added atmosphere.
"I'll slip on something sexy, and I'll cut it clear to here.
"Then you can slap my bottom, every time you tell a joke.
"Just as long as you keep tipping, well, I'll laugh until you're broke."
She said: "Instead of family quarrels, we'll have a bar-room brawl,
"When the Ham's bear say's its closing time, you won't have far to crawl.
"And when you run out of money, you'll have me to thank.
"You can sleep it off next morning, when I'm putting it in the bank."
She said: "I'm gonna' hire a wino, to decorate our home,
"So you can feel more at ease here, and you won't have to roam.
"When you and your friends get off from work, and have a powerful thirst.
"There won't be any reason, why you can't stop off here first."
She said: "I'm gonna' hire a wino to decorate our home,
"So you'll feel more at ease here, and you won't have to roam.
"We'll take out the dining room table, and put a bar along that wall.
"And a neon sign, to point the way, to our bathroom down the hall."

I would probably be an alcoholic if I had a bar walking distance from my house.

Neighborhood bars declined for the same reason malls did. In the pre-smartphone era, neighborhood bars were the designated meeting spot for young adult cliques much like the mall was for teens. Now that cliques don’t need regular meeting spots to find each other, they don’t frequent those kinds of bars quite as much. Pair that with how zoning and planned developments in the post-war to late 2000’s era frowned upon drinking establishments within walkable distances from single-family homes, plus the increased enforcement of DUI laws thanks to groups like MADD in the 80’s and 90’s, easier access to craft beers/liquors and refrigeration at home, and you have a lot of historical weight eroding the practice of the neighborhood bar.

Another factor is that guys go where the girls are. Single girls who want to meet guys went to bars. Now, single girls meet more guys using dating apps. Guys don’t have to go where the girls are because the girls are on their phone in their pocket. Smart phones really are the most fundamentally societal altering invention since the automobile.

I live within two blocks of nine bars.

Breweries are the new neighborhood bars. There’s one in every town and always people there. It’s just evolved from a smoky dark dingy place to a well lit brewery with food trucks and board games.

That's a good point, Paul.

(no message)

Haha, no. That’s a bad MFer though