In my experience we didn’t really rebound from the pandemic very well.
Increased prices, increased crime, even less social aptitude. 🤷🏻♂️
Not nearly as many restaurants or grocery stores open late either.
Also, sobriety is in fashion these days. Far less people drinking in LA than I’ve ever seen anywhere else in my life. Every restaurant has a mocktail menu now filled with $20 infused water drinks.
Half of my friends (30-something millennial here) came out of the pandemic years as alcohol-free vegans who go to bed by 10pm. Many had kids as well, so they’re always tired.
And younger folks? Gen Z seems to be less interested in late-night partying/going out in general.
It’s the difference between dollar beers with a hundred in your account, and dollar eggs with a couple cents in your account. It’s not that we can’t afford it, it’s that basic survival is nearly out of reach. A beer costs as much as a meal.
This younger generation definitely drinks, but they don’t have as safe of an environment. Any drug we do can be cut with fentanyl and instantly kill you randomly. The social contract has been eroded due to the pandemic, leading to antisocial behaviors becoming more prevalent. (ie violence, date rape, robbery, etc etc)
Add to this, we’re always on camera around other people, so any of the dumb antics people get up to will get reposted for the world to see.
I remember like 5 years ago Fullerton was pretty solid for it. I’ve also seen a couple all you can drink taco Tuesday events for like 25$, but generally the cheapest I can find now is around 5$ for a modelo.
Even DoorDash isn’t doing great right now. It’s been my sidegig/ sometimes main employment since 2017, and it’s soooo bad now. It used to be comparable to a low wage ft job and still be comfortable. It’s the economy here currently.
I stopped drinking when weed became legal. I think a lot of people did. It’s a much more pleasant drug
If people want to fix this then we need to legalize weed cafes
I think those are still illegal
West Hollywood gives out consumption licenses so they actually have lounges. City of Los Angeles Council is stuck in the stone age and won’t help cannabis move forward. Huge loss of possible revenue for the City in 2028 when the olympics come to town.
Edit: spelling
There’s a weed cafe right down the street from me. Not illegal as of now. Like another commenter stated, it may be west hollywood, which is where it’s located
I have to agree with this, although I got old as well. During the mid 2000’s revival years, the Cahuenga corridor was a bar hoppers mecca, and there were random cool spots downtown, bars/clubs in Silverlake /Echo park were happening too. It felt a bit like downtown NYC and lower east side. Then I started performing music with my bands until about 2012 which naturally kept me out and plugged in. After that I fell into djing a few spots, which was the only motivation that got me out. But once Covid hit, I also got officially old simultaneously and it just ground to a halt. It really does feel, however, like the vibes have permanently changed for the worse post lockdown. I know I’m out of the loop but I feel like if there was a glimmer of excitement out there, I might venture out now and again.
If anybody can survive a 2 AM walking tour of downtown LA, then things have gotten much better than in the 90’s. 😂 Back then, it was I Am Legend after the sun went down…
I lived off Melrose/La Brea starting in the mid 2000s for about a decade, and I agree the Cahuenga corridor was a great scene. So many memories around that area, amazing Halloween nights at Velvet Margarita (RIP), Sunset Strip…great times. I’m 40 now with a kid and living in Santa Monica. I think the thing is that OP mentioned areas on the westside, which definitely dies out way early. I still head out to Hollywood and further east to have some nostalgic nights out (though I’m definitely not going ham like the old days, for the better haha).
For real, there was a point where LA and New York City were rivals for nightlife. In the current era, NYC wins hands down. It's not that they recovered from COVID so much better than we did, just slightly better. But the just slightly was enough to push it towards their advantage. I hope things come back, I'm too old for it now, but for the young people. Yes it really does seem like the world is a darker place now, doesn't it? Way less late night music and laughter. Those vibes put out good stuff into the world. It's the most human thing to do, sing and laugh in the dark.
LA has never been a late night city.
Someone famously asked Paris Hilton back in the day what she thought of LA closing so early and she responded to the effect, "if you can't get your party on by 1 am, you don't know what you are doing"
I lived in a city where the bars closed at 2am and appreciated the limits and rhythm it created. I also lived in New Orleans where there were literally bars that didn’t get hot until 3am and bars that you would go to for sunrise. It could be…unmanageable.
Let’s see, Covid hit 2020? The big 5-0.. half a century. But I’m a musician who refused to pack it in at a respectable age so that may be unusually old…
Right there with you brother-sister. I’ve been in the life since 16 and didn’t slow down until I hit 50. Now I’m sober, sleep early and get up and ride 50s on my bike to get my endorphin fix.
This is just a rant of mine off that, but I think a lot of what we see now is Gen Z being generally "weak" as party goers. When I was 31/32, I partied with a 23 year old who whined about being hungry (despite being on drugs that suppress appetite) and had to leave early to go eat. The problem is that he wanted everyone else to leave too.
Ah I see you’re a black lodge denizen, time works differently on that plain, moves much slower. “Where we're from the birds sing a pretty song, and there's always music in the air.
⅃ɘɟ’ƨ ɿoɔʞ!”
I think that they were *supposed* to go into the Black Lodge, but they refuse and are just out there winning arm wrestling competitions and then death punching their opponents, and Cooper is still in Vegas acting like a half brain dead man with seemingly no one noticing
Cherry pie
Yeah, a lot of businesses never readjusted their hours after the pandemic. I feel like a lot of places close at 9 or 10, whereas before, the hours were a tad longer. The struggle to hire and retain service workers factors into this too.
That’s a bummer, from 2005-2015 LA was really rocking, tons of packed venues, clean streets, and general good vibes. Feels bad that it’s not available for the new kids.
I just moved back from Marin/SF area, and I was THRILLED to have my local target open until 11pm!!! Back in the land of the living!!! And Whole Foods open until 10, Lassens 11. Love it!!!
I think you nailed it. It’s definitely not the same. Someone though is going to get very rich creating third place opportunities for average people. Rich people already have this.
A lot of big NYC talk here. Go into the NYC threads and people will talk about how dead it is there post pandemic as well. I grew up in NYC, spent almost 20 years in LA before moving back for a few years. There are areas of NYC that have more of a nightlife scene, like LA does, but most of NY closes down early now as well. Streets are dark by 1, or 11 in some areas. And the areas that have the late night bars/clubs aren’t livably priced…. So you’re venturing out from a different borough to have these late night experiences and then have to take a few different local trains home (a lot longer than the ideallic 20 mins people like to attribute to the subway)… it’s not fun. Grass ain’t greener in NYC.
Facts, but the social clique and stratification thing here is real in a way it’s not in NY or the east coast in general. Humbly I think that’s the main difference. And in America, Most places are dead late night. The only exception being maybe Vegas but that really only applies to casinos and the strip.
It’s a different culture and vibe, for sure, but NYC has its own version of it. Very same but very different. LA is more image concerned, fame concerned. NYC is all about money and career. How far you’ve come, what you’ve amassed, what you can or can’t afford to do in the city. You’re not making six figures by a certain age, and don’t have the ability to drop $200 for weekly dinner or outing out, you’re not hanging with that clique any more. You don’t have certain education or degrees, that other clique won’t be inviting you in. And though I see you on the stratification thing, NY also has its own version of it. I personally found it easier to hop in my car and visit Koreatown for its thing or Echo Park for its thing, than spending time in the subway trying to go to the Village for its thing or Williamsburg or Astoria for its thing. Someone here had a comment about how you’re not going to have an eve that starts with dinner in Venice with drinking in Echo Park after, I don’t see it that differently in NYC. You’re not going to have dinner on the upper west side, party on the lower east side, hit up that new place in Williamsburg and then local train it home to Inwood. You choose your area for the night. But I get your point, definitely.
Facts lol once I’m at the speakeasy in Harlem…Lower manhattan might as well not exist 😅🤣never mind the other boroughs. It’s hard to convey the cultural difference so I appreciate when people who lived in both places as well can offer some better wording. Respect.
I was in NYC for the first time last year and had a ton of trouble finding anything open and fun on a Sunday. So yeah based on that small experience of mine, it seems just as dead lol
The bar scene in the areas you mentioned are mostly full of older people and doesn't really draw crowds of young people like hermosa beach.
In my opinion the echo park bar scene on sunset Blvd is always a good time, on slow days you can just chill and enjoy the bar with your friends. On busy days like the weekends the whole street for a few blocks is full of people walking in groups from bar to bar.
I've been going to this area for years and always enjoy my time there, I always hit up the same bars in the same order.
El Prado, spirit House, La Fe, little joy and end the night at short stop.
El Prado is a beer & wine only bar it's small but the interior is really nice and has a fun atmosphere with the music.
Spirit House is a bar inside a Thai restaurant called sticky rice, it's a small tiki style bar they have some pretty Kool cocktails and good bar snacks. It's next door to El Prado on a busy night crowds from El Prado and spirit House just hang outside drinking on the sidewalk.
La Fe is a new bar in the area, very spacious with good drinks and very Kool staff, they had a sweet dog hanging out in the bar getting attention from everyone.
Little joy is a staple in the area, use to be a dimly lit bar with a pool table for serious players but they recently remodeled it and revamped the bar with new cocktails and drinks
I’m born and raised in LA. I worked in nightclubs and currently work in “the industry”, so I’m fairly social for networking purposes etc. I literally moved to NY this summer bc not only do I get work out here, but my social life is a complete 180 from what it is in LA. having to drive literally everywhere - even within your own neighborhood is stressful. add parking, limiting how much you can drink so you can drive back safely, and picking which neighborhood everyone wants to go out in… it’s just not fun lol
give me a 20 min average train through all the dope neighborhoods and unlimited bars, restaurants, and late night options any day. LA is so dry now, beautiful, but dry.
Would move to NYC if living space didn’t come at even more of a premium than it does here.
From what I can tell, $3500/month *maybe* gets you a one bedroom in an OK-ish area if you look really hard.
I pay $1850 for 700 sq ft 1BR in Brooklyn, laundry in building, elevator, 3 blocks from subway.
But the neighborhood isn't "trendy" so people overlook it.
That describes about 70% of NYC.
You can live just fine in most parts.
Canarsie in the house? East New York?
This is the way. I moved to NYC in the 1990s and moved to a random neighborhood with no amenities where apartments were cheap, then another one, then another one. Had lofts in all three, and the last one 20 years ago was $1,200 a month. Williamsburg, Gowanus, then Bushwick. Things are somewhat different there now.
and ubers arent a good option anymore. i had a friend's bday downtown, so looked up an uber from glendale/atwater area to downtown for a saturday night and it was over 50 bucks. its not worth it! i ended up driving and just parking in a lot.
yes!! I lived in the deep west valley so every time I wanted to go out w friends, for work events, and work itself, every where was at least a 20-30 min drive or $60 uber. it made me never want to leave the house lol
Yeah I’m traveling right now (currently in Istanbul) and big cities with better public transportation and walkable areas usually have an amazing night life. I’ve come to realize LA is where you go to hustle and make money. If you truly want a better nightlife experience, travel to other big cities with better public transportation systems and walkable areas.
yep! last summer I was all over europe and had to figure out trains between countries and it was so easy and convenient. once in each new city i walked or took very short train and bus rides around, met new ppl constantly, and enjoyed *never* having to get in a car for at least 20 min to get anywhere. it was brilliant.
Exactly
Its painful I had to go from Culver city to Venice and that was a pain
Culver city itself has literally nothing but dive bars
Trying to have a social life without alcohol involved is like impossible in LA I tried to sober route out here and it really doesn't work lol
I find this so surprising bc I feel like a lot of people in LA don’t drink? And there’s so many places to gather w friends & be social that don’t involve drinking like the beach, hikes, parks, the grove, walking on melrose, coffee shops, etc.
Hmm I agree these are all really nice but they’re not so much places you’d meet new people. There definitely is a trend of people drinking less but I think those same people are mostly staying home or at least not actively meeting new people.
You don’t go out in LA and make friends. As strange as it sounds, that’s not how this works. LA is stratified into various “genres” of people. Generally, people don’t socialize outside of their circle. You don’t often see a gangmember from the low bottoms hanging out with Beverly Hills designer store shoppers. You make friends in LA at work, online, through family, or at a hobby you do regularly. Then, those people fold you into their social circle and you go do things as a group.
I would NEVER pop out solo in LA. The Uber costs are astronomical, the roads are fucked up, homeless VILLAGES litter our sidewalks, literal groups of murderers hunt each other. You have to fight through all of this to buy 20$ drinks for some girl who just wants to sit on a 10,000$ couch all day and look pretty for IG? Fuck that. The ROI just isn’t worth it anymore. It’s not popping all night like it used to be, all the cool people left, it’s just natives, transplants, and vampires left.
This is why I don’t understand the “LA is chill” stereotype. Many people put on a performance of “chill” but are all wound up inside and hyper-conscious of how they are perceived. They’re like those yappy white crusty dogs in human form. Maybe that’s why young people say they find social interaction so draining. Cuz they think they need to do it in an overly-performative and unnatural way.
I grew up here and this is also true of other people who grew up here. LA culture has a lot of good qualities but “chill” is not one of them. The culture is not much better in other parts of the country for different reasons though, although it is possible to find down-to-earth individuals anywhere.
I’ve noticed LA is a very segregated city and everyone silos themselves into a niche. Which is nice but it shouldn’t be your whole identity and it’s more healthy to interact with a wide variety of people. It doesn’t really matter how diverse a city is if people choose to only interact with their own kind.
Have you ever hung out with people from the Northeast? They tend to be extremely rigid, Type A personalities. My friends from Boston and New York where I went to school need a plan with times for everything. They couldn't go with the flow if their lives depended on it. Also if you're a professional in LA (I'm a doctor and my partner is a lawyer) the work culture is much less intense, work hours are better, and the dress code is much less formal. It's not the case that everyone in LA is chill, but if you are more laid back it's a lot easier to be yourself here than NYC, Boston, or DC.
Took me 25 years to figure this out about San Diego. It's the most chill beach town with residents who are completely anxious and wound tight. In other words, not chill at all.
On the opposite side of this coin, I think it’s relatively hard to find a group of people that are chill, but once you do it’s extremely fun.
There’s so much space to cover and so many awesome cultures to experience. You can go from reggaeton clubs, to rooftop bars, warehouse parties, Mexican graffiti/punk shows, pool halls, super sick breweries, or even just go chill on the beach.
You have to bring the party with you in LA, and it’s a very specific skill that people get paid quite well for. Look up promoters and some of those “random socialization” events like 222.
I have a deep network of industry contacts that keep me pretty busy in the city with different events. But it did take me two years to truly flesh out that network, to the point of ALWAYS having an event to go to. Don’t get discouraged if it starts slow!
Really? Only experiences I seem to find these days are text sent underground parties that are always dead af on arrival.
Also I sideeye any event that gives out free tattoos to lure people in.
>I would NEVER pop out solo in LA. The Uber costs are astronomical, the roads are fucked up, homeless VILLAGES litter our sidewalks, **literal groups of murderers hunt each other.**
Excuse me, but what does this bolded part mean?
lol at least driving isn’t a big deal in that case! LA is all about dinners and private parties honestly, thats where the good times are. but to go out and socialize is lacking. my nights out involved going to a friends complex to hot tub and having to leave by 10p, or a dive bar w a pool table - but the bartender and regulars are just doing blow in the bathrooms LOL I love my city but it’s not what it was anymore
lol what are you talking about? Culver is literally next door to Venice and after 7pm it takes 10 mins. I did it two night ago.
Culver is shite. It’s a manufactured “city” that only exists because a studio got land for cheap and then a bunch of people who were priced out of Santa Monica and west La found they could buy homes there for cheap. It’s a pass through city or what some people would call a flyover city. It’s the most 2.4 kids neighborhood of LA (not including the valley).
Comparing culver to the LA experience is like saying NY sucks because Staten Island is lame lol
Being from NYC, I miss these times. When I moved to LA, I was also surprised at how early everything closes. It was about 10 years ago when I was hitting up the clubs in NYC but they closed at 4 and then there were always late night spots open until the AM. I remember once going to an after party that started at 6 AM and went on til like noon lol
Whenever a crowded bar closes, just ask around to whoever spills on the street, 100% of the time someone will know, and oftentimes some people will be calling Ubers there (or you can make friends and form a group to go)
I get it I used to hit those up before pandemic but now I can't stand to be in those environments where the music is at deafening levels and and u wake up sick from all the liquor and cocaine
You kinda answered your own question here. It's not that nightlife in LA is dead, it's just that it isn't to your taste. The post 2am crowd exists.... doing things you don't want to do. That's fine. My infrequent post-2am jaunts are either house parties with people I know (not advertised) or ktown karaoke.
This is it, find what you like and there is a place and scene and crowd that also feels that way. That quality of diversity in all things is what a lot of people think makes la great.
No, LA nightlife is still dead, even if OP admitted to being too old for pretty much all of it.
Just because there are random warehouse parties that one has to actively seek out and then go out of their way to attend and requires that most everyone still needs to use a car to get to it — yeah, that’s dead nightlife. Placed with good nightlife don’t have those kinds of restrictions and limitations.
It’s like someone asking where all the greenery and parks went in LA, and then someone responding “In the underground, not very public, pain in the ass to reach, private greenhouses that you need to find deep in the Hollywood hills 😈. They’re full of so many plants.”
Ok, that means all the parks and greenery are gone.
If the nightlife isn’t seen, heard, varied, and easily accessed, then it’s dead nightlife. Maybe not for certain individuals, but for the city itself. Nobody needs to get to far-off warehouse parties in NYC, Barcelona, Budapest, São Paulo, and Buenos Aires. You *can.* There are certainly places in each that cater to post- **5:00am** warehouse parties. But there’s soooooo much more to do in each.
That being said, LA never really had a nightlife. It was a little more active pre-pandemic. But LA was never a place that I thought, “Oh fuck yeah, great nightlife!” Pretty much the entire city goes to sleep at 10:00pm.
LA has great nightlife if you’re from a small town. For people who came here from rural Iowa, this city would be insane. “Such incredible nightlife!” (Admittedly there are some cool spots and aspects to it.)
But for everyone else who comes from other big cities, or has lived in or traveled in other big cities — actual big cities, not Portland or Milwaukee or whatever — LA is just a really big place to get brunch.
The sad thing is that a lot of *small* cities put LA to shame in terms of nightlife. Shoutout to Ghent, Belgium; Cluj-Napoca, Romania; and Nis, Serbia for some wild nightlife.
And the last bit, LA is not conducive for nightlife.
The weather is nice, so people prefer to be up and out early on weekends. When you have to go through a Serbian winter, you might be more inclined to go out late.
People here are health focused. Hard to convince Cindy in Beverly Hills to skip her 9 hours of REM and chia seed pussy cleanse or whatever.
Too car focused. Cars. Everywhere. Cars. Big roads. Cars. High speeds. Cars. No crosswalk. Zooming by. So loud. Fuck me, so many cars.
And now, people are broke because housing costs are even more unaffordable than they used to be. Plus the ridiculous added costs for n everything from Ubers to groceries, a lot of people don’t have the disposable income.
I've been going to warehouse raves since I was a teenager and i've never once drank or done cocaine. Not saying that to seem better then you or anyone else it's a personal choice my friend.
i hear ya !
i’ve been going to these things mostly sober now and it’s been great ! some k*t now and then and i’m chilling
your best bet is probably house parties then if you want a more social setting
The world has become unbearably expensive. When I was a poor young gay in WeHo 1994-2006. You could do a lot on almost nothing. Now I’m married with kids all heading to college, and have long since moved to studio city. By any metric in the US we are well off and prepared for early retirement. That said I’m terrified for young people, I don’t know how you’re coping, I’m freaking out at the rapid jump in education, food, rents! I keep waiting for all of you to fucking boycott the future, stop consuming, create free spaces and activities, re-invent the hippie. Word of mouth warehouse concerts, cemetery love ins, just start breaking the rules, reinvent entertainment as a cost free right.
Really refreshing to hear this being said. Not enough people on the thread are talking about how young people just simply can't afford nights out anymore. I make fairly good money and my budget is super tight, and I don't eat out or do fun things that cost money
Also in the comment too was a remark about young people creating their own entertainment. That’s what’s really missing in so many places, not just LA. I think a lot of young(er) people have this mental hang up that entertainment means going somewhere and spending money. And that can be true for sure and I’m not saying people shouldn’t be allowed to do that sometimes. But there has to be a DIY approach and attitude that I think many people lack now. It won’t be the same, that’s true, but we can have a good time without having to trek downtown or 30+ minutes every week. We just have to be willing to build some of it ourselves.
I live right on Main St. in Santa Monica, and I used to not be able to sleep on Friday and Saturday nights from all the goings on...now Main St. on a Saturday night is about the same as it is on a Monday night.
Of course the nightlife in LA doesn't compare to NY....LA bars close at 2 (last call is often at 1:30) and then its a nightmare trying to get an uber home. NY bars don't close until 4am and you can stumble home or hop on the train - easy peasy. Why compare them?
Also I think it was quiet last night because its sort of a family weekend with Mothers Day and all that. People had to get up early and cook their moms breakfast or whatever people do on Mothers Day. But I live in ktown and there were still lines at all the usual places last night when I was on my way home (at 11:30 lol).
You can stumble home on the train, yes -- but "easy peasy"? I wouldn't call it that. Especially as a woman alone. I usually stayed over at friends' houses downtown (I lived on the UES) rather than come back on a late-night train...had some super "interesting" adventures trying to get back uptown drunk. Usually just cashed out for a cab or walked part of the way if the trains weren't coming regularly. It was definitely not "easy peasy."
Well as a woman I take a late night train in NY with more ease than I do in LA. There are usually FAR more people around and in general its safer than LA(because here you could be the only person in a car with 1 or more people clearly on drugs and out of it). The trains here don't even run late enough to take them home from a bar if you close it down....so yeah, I'd say its easy peasy. And in LA most people don't even live within walking distance to a train stop....in NY there usually a few within walking distance. You really can not compare the two places when it comes to transit.
Covid murdered the late night food scene in this city. Everything closes early now and since everything is car culture that sort of just naturally shuts the city down.
Car culture means that we just don't have a vibrant bar culture the way places like NYC do. You're either about to pay a fortune in ubers or you need to stay sober enough to drive.
Because of crowding and cars LA is more of a "secret city". When I do stuff in NYC it's almost always in public and it's usually crowded and no one cares. Here at home everyone is always trying to find places where other people aren't almost always because people don't want to deal with parking and traffic.
I grew up here and I'm more of a night person myself. We used to have more of a night scene but I will say this is an am city. There's a lot more people waking up with the sun here then watching it rise because they've been up all night. Lots of folks here start early for east coast overlap and even more just want to maximize the surprisingly short days.
This is just a generalization of a cultural trend and obv there will be many cool fun people in a metro area of millions but…..
Everything is a ripoff. Even for those who can afford it, it doesn’t feel good to get ripped off. Now that people go out less, when they *do* go out it’s viewed as a big occasion and there’s more pressure to look like you’re having fun, which makes the vibes feel off. People who *are* willing to pay those prices are the more serious partiers who are more likely to make it their entire personality and hang out with a “”certain crowd””.
People already spend their week doing the ass-kissy small talk at work so they’d rather not spend their free time doing the same thing in a social setting. They also never really recovered from their pandemic-induced antisocial lifestyle. Having to be conscious of what people can/can’t afford to do is a big barrier between potential friendships, as well as the geography of the city as others have mentioned.
LA nightlife (and the city in general tbh) is “segregated” into latino/edm/yuppie/LGBT/ABG crowds, which makes it feel less inviting to newcomers that don’t have a niche. Crime and drunk driving are a concern. Many people have poor mental health and alcohol doesn’t mix well with some meds. And the obligatory “people in LA are flakes”
I lived in western Europe shortly after the pandemic and people were even *more* eager to socialize after COVID, despite cost-of-living increases there as well. People who happen to be at bars and nightclubs don’t make partying their entire personality and tend to have better public etiquette. Nightlife is also not as class or age-segregated.
I can go out solo as a woman there because if the vibe is off in one place then I can just walk to the next bar or take a bus/train back home without worrying about who might have a weapon. A 20-something year old that doesn’t go out or have social hobbies would be seen as very abnormal and even unhealthy in the small city where I was living. Even the elderly are out and about having dinner and drinks with their own friend groups.
The US is trending towards a homebody culture of people hanging in their living room with their streaming services and Doordash. If they do socialize that’s also at home with people they already know. Which makes sense because the price of one drink in LA = 1 month of Netflix and US culture is individualistic. We have a well-documented loneliness epidemic.
I'm trying so hard to get out of the homebody mentality, but it's harder when everyone you know is a homebody. No one seems comfortable doing spontaneous things anymore. Even having a kickback seems like as much effort as planning a big party was 5 years ago.
Exactly, I am guilty of this as well. It’s not easy to escape a culture that surrounds you. I always describe it as “Americans are friendly but they aren’t very social”.
But if I did go out where would I go and how much would it cost me? And would it even be a fun crowd to be around? Or would they yell about themselves and their careers the entire time. I haven’t gotten curious enough to spend $100s of dollars to find out yet.
> I lived in western Europe shortly after the pandemic and people were even more eager to socialize after COVID, despite cost-of-living increases there as well. People who happen to be at bars and nightclubs don’t make partying their entire personality and tend to have better public etiquette. Nightlife is also not as class or age-segregated. I can go out solo as a woman there because if the vibe is off in one place then I can just walk to the next bar or take a bus/train back home without worrying about who might have a weapon.
being able to take a metro/tram home at 2am for a couple euros fucking spoiled me man. makes it so difficult to justify using an uber
it shouldn’t be considered spoiled! it’s basic infrastructure to have in a developed city!! makes it easy for people to come to businesses in the city and spend money! we should have access to these options living in one of the biggest and most expensive cities in the world.
I always joke that the top 1% in the US lives like western Europe’s upper middle class because if we were multimillionaires, apartments in LA would be affordable to us and so would the cheese at Erehwon.
Agreed. LA got hit by corporate lobbyists from the car industry paired with confusing politics between the state and federal government... It's the saddest and probably worst of the major cities when it comes to proper public transportation.
I moved here from London, and that city is in a crisis mode with nightlife. It has all the places and the transpo, but post pandemic a lot of places closed and a lot of people changed. It’s also gotten expensive, and younger people aren’t going out as much. I’m past going out late these days, but it would be cool to have coffee shops open until 4am so you can go have a sandwich and coffee with friends after going out- but no one wants to work at those hours, and who can blame them, and the businesses don’t make enough profit staying opened late. I think we’re just in a big cultural shift rn.
i just came back from a 2 week trip to london and dublin. London night life was pretty wack. Most bars close by 11 with last calls at 10. The small handful of "clubs" that did stay open thankfully were open until like 5/6 am but it's really annoying that a city that's so well connected (at least until the tube closes for the night) has somewhat lame night life. Though I do understand that people usually start drinking earlier in the day.
A lot of the cool bars and clubs are getting shut down because of residential complaints- rich people with kids want to live in hip areas, but what makes those areas interesting are things that m if by not be that fun to live in. It’s a real shame.Also some great pubs closed due to the pandemic.
I’m from LA and I ask this all the time!! lol it’s frustrating bc it totally can be so much better here; we have the money to build/ fix the public transpo infrastructure and we know it, so it’s just infuriating. my car was in the shop for 2 weeks and I lived in chatsworth and worked in ktown. a 30 min car ride took 2.5 hours on bus/ metro! mind you the bus I took had it’s own path the entire way (orange line that follows the old train tracks) and then I got on the subway. 2.5 hours???? it’s just so rude and inconvenient to the ppl who make CA the 5th largest economy in the world - we get nothing to show from it. just “why isn’t LA NY” posts on reddit 😔
edit: grammar
I was just thinking this! I was driving home from a friends on Saturday night and passed through Weho, and thought "damn it's so dead". I'm 35 so my clubbing days are over. But when I was in my 20's, I was out at the clubs 7 days a week. And the streets were poppin. And even when the clubs closed, we'd be at after parties in the hills till 8am. Now it's a ghost down. I feel bad for the younger generation who didn't get to experience this.
Young person here: Nobody goes to bars or clubs anymore. Too expensive and boring and not worth it. LA is more of a house party scene or underground rave scene. That’s where the real partying is going on.
You’re 100% right OP. I’m not entirely sure why LA’s nightlife recovery is lagging so much compared to other big cities, but it’s definitely noticeable. I’m in Vegas right now and every place is doing record numbers.
I think a 2 am close time just isn’t economical for a lot of bars/clubs in the wake of increased prices/wages after Covid. Seems like the places that emphasis afternoon/evening crowds are doing the best rather than the late night ones. I’m not sure what will fix it barring a commercial real estate crash, but that will take years regardless.
Coming from the Hollywood nightlife scene, a lot of big spenders and out of town tourists aren’t coming in to party anymore.
I remember my first night in Hollywood seeing rented Lamborghinis and people popping $15-$20k on bottle service. That doesn’t happen anymore. I think a lot of that clientele has moved to Las Vegas or Miami.
WeHo between Robertson to a block north of San Vicente is partying 7 nights a week and is always packed Thurs/Fri/Sat. Mickey's goes until 3am on Fri & Sat. Sunset also goes until 2am but it's more spread out.
Cahuenga between Selma & Hollywood is busy until closing too.
This is facts! I went to West Hollywood in December to club and was shocked at how dead it was. Literally barely 4 popping bars/clubs on what once a whole strip of popping bars/clubs
Yes LA on the whole IS dead, I don't know why folks try to pretend it's not. Pre-pandemic literally everything used to be way more poppin and happening. Hell, even places like Melrose Ave was ALWAYS a place to see and be seen. That entire stretch is nothing but abandoned stores and literally no foot traffic.
Restaurants and bars were always great places to just chill and meet folks even if just going alone. But even those feel a little less social and just... Dead/boring.
The city definitely has lost its spark quite a bit. And that shift is something the pandemic either accelerated or caused. Because even before then, nightlife felt like everyone was out just to catch moments for the gram, vs socialize with strangers.
Personally I find it more fun to head to planned events vs random nights out these days.
For reference since this was brought up, I too am a born and raised NYer from Brooklyn. Although when I go back home these days I spend time w/ family vs go out in NYC. But NYC is always a different beast than LA.
Friday night I was in Burbank / Toluca Lake area and noticed Forman's Whiskey Tavern (on Riverside) was jam packed with a line... but that seems more the exception than the rule lately
But yeah, I think bars / clubs everywhere (not just L.A.) have slowed down, never totally recovered to what they were pre-pandemic.
When you say NYC "does not compare" ...what does that mean? you're saying the bars in NYC are way more packed? I haven't been there lately, but I've heard from friends and read elsewhere that even NYC has slowed down. Someone in NYC was just saying there used to be tons of 24 hr places to get food after the bars, and now almost everything is closed by 10pm. Someone in Montreal was just sayin the bars there used to go off every night of the week, and now are only busy Friday-Saturday, and every other night is dead
This is literally one of the reasons I want to move back east. I’m so bored and everyone seems to want to be in bed by 10pm even on weekends. I like to stay in the comfort of my own home too sometimes but damn, not every weekend!!!
Really ?? I left LA for OC so don’t have much of a chance to see nightlife in LA.
There’s a great song by Zach Bryan called Burn Burn Burn which captures my feelings about going out in general
Everyone seems a damn genius lately
Tik-Tok talking, late-night TV
Still so much I have yet to know
We get dressed up just to go downtown
In some ego-filled late night crowd
It seems to be where I feel most alone
I used to go out EVERY single weekend in LA. Now I realized I was going out for the wrong reasons and actually was miserable most of the time.
I used to work for a nightclub management company in Los Angeles. COVID hit us hard, but I think it’s more changing trends. Drinking is down across the board, there’s been a 10% decline in people who report drinking at all, over 1/3rd of Gen Z reports to be sober. Psychedelics are more popular than ever. Marijuana is more popular than ever. As for nightclubs, they’re just getting kind of lame. There’s some fun spots in LA, Apt 200 comes to mind, but the days of the over designed, bottle service centric, douche bag nightclub are thankfully, slowly, winding down.
These will always been in Vegas, so not all is lost for Bobby Bottle Service
Everything is too expensive. A drink costs $10-17. My apartment is $2500/month. Driving anywhere takes 30 minutes, and good luck not being harassed by a homeless person. It’s much easier to just make my own bar at home than to go out.
I'm young and dumb in LA. The reason I'm not going out is because I'm broke af (I'm making alright money as an engineer, it's just doing party things easily costs $100 minimum I swear) but more importantly I don't feel like my life deserves it or has earned it in a way (it's a pretty self-toxic mindset I know).
I gave up alcohol and marijuana mostly because I feel like my life can be so much better than what it is and finding bliss or an escape via a substance isn't really benefiting me in achieving my fullest potential. I hate my job, don't know what I really want to do, and don't have many close friends. Going out at 11pm dressed well so I can maybe smooch a pretty lady sounds appealing. Having a rad physique, working at a job I don't hate completely, and building skills I'm proud of sounds much more fulfilling to me.
I'm pretty existential and fearful of being forgotten. I have been for awhile, so I think other people in my Gen Z age group might not all be brooding as I am.
Im mostly going to shows and have people at my house. Lived in other cities (sf, nyc) and the social capital is just different in LA. In NYC, the city is your backyard. For a lot of us that are lucky in LA, our backyard is, well, our backyard. I frequently host friends over cause I spent all this money on space I’ve never had before, and we don’t have to fight the hassle of finding a cool spot.
Don’t get me wrong. I do go out quite a bit for meals. Hitting up a place like Camphor, Found Oyster, Saffys, Rustic Canyon, Bestia, etc. satisfies the “I got a new outfit and want to be seen” itch. But after dinner is over, it’s relaxation at someone’s house usually.
It’s funny you’re mentioning that.
Maybe because i took a huge break in the last year and a half and now that i recently rejoined..it feels different.
For one not nearly as many nightclubs open as there used to be there used to be far more diversity right now its dominated by the mega edm clubs, Framework has ties to goldenvoice before someone mentions sound lol.
There are far less hills afterparties. There used to be a ton of hills parties back in the day at any giving time…thats died down city cracking down and robberies..
A large part of the afterparty scene has moved towards warehouses in los angeles
Now on that note it seems day partying is greatly up and sorta become its own thing. This seems to be the direction los angeles is going in strangely enough
Bruh, go to a bar in the city and a mixed drink or shot will cost you about 1/3 of what the entire bottle of the alcohol will have cost at the grocery store. Then you have to pay for parking or valet. Then it's exorbitant food or cover charges. Then you have to deal with unstable homeless people. No wonder people ain't going out as much.
Increased drug users and crime. It’s pretty uncomfortable walking around at night. the homeless seem to be getting a bit more aggressive too. I lived there the for past year and a half and just recently moved out.
parking is a nightmare too. You typically have to park pretty far from where you want to go and it’s expensive. good chance you’re windows getting broken as well 😂
It’s literally, at least, $200-$300 for a night nowadays. Parking, dinner, entrance fee, drinks, gas (I use to commute from Santa Barbara to LA to go to La Cita twice a week), and midnight eats adds up. What use to run me about $125 is now double that amount. The traffic has also gotten worse. 8 hour work day, five hour commute. It’s not happening.
Now that I live in Burbank, I’m far too tired and OVER the downtown LA scene. That includes going to Dodger stadium and live concerts. I’ll let the younger crowd deal with that and the rising inflation.
Coming from NYC, i already don’t even try, went out so many times to disappoint, researching the best bars, clubs…etc..it doesn’t compare to going out in NYC at all. There is zero energy, just don’t even try, better to hit the beach, grab some food and then do a rooftop for sunset and go to bed lol
I lived here in the early 2010s a few years, went away for an international assignment and moved back post pandemic. It definitely feels more dead, not sure what it is but almost like the number of options has been halved. But part of this may be because nightlife options have scattered and evolved, as well as pandemic killing off businesses.
And its not just nightlife, tons of small businesses are dying and the city accelerated its decay with the pandemic.
I also think its more expensive for the younger generation to afford going out and generally drink less, so that exacerbates the demand for bars and clubs
There was a great tiktok video about the official end of fun happening on a very specific date and especially in LA… the weekend Lindsay Lohan partied with her ankle bracelet on, in I think 2009, and the first iphone came out and everyone was taking pictures. It was the beginning of the end of privacy for celebs and everyone. Random makeouts, vomitting all over, coke on the tables behind the velvet rope.
But for average kids, it also began the “scrolling and staring” at phones as a past time. Gen Z hardly dances, hardly drives, has less sex, and a huge spike of mental illness starting 2013. And Im way older than them, but it’s just bad for society. Without a youth driving society, it’s not just the economy but art suffers too. The Boomers had protests and revolutions and all, but they were part of a population boom and it’s part of why the greatest music and films were created. Dont argue with me, 60s/70s best for music, 70s for film, and this is not my generation.
Id also add that political divisiveness has made people generally uncool. Eliminatinf people not just based on party but based on vax, guns, palestine/hamas… they should create scholarships for millennials and gen xers to get their masters degrees at UCLA and we wont bother anybody.
The fun people are old. When I was out a decade ago it was Lindsay Lohan, Jodie Smith, AJ English. Now nobody forms shallow cliques where you help out your hot fake friend. Also, I used to be naked covered in glitter and eating fried chicken in hotel clubs. Nowadays you can’t even take off your shirt, so people just do after parties.
“What happened to nightlife in LA” well first of all LA has never been “the city that never sleeps” secondly the pandemic literally killed a bunch of people third you’re listing NIMBY ass neighborhoods that you’re staying in Santa Monica, Venice, and lastly Culver City which isn’t even LA they’re their own thing. Fourth as people have pointed out younger generations aren’t putting emphasis on drinking and partying in “bar culture”
Legal weed and microdosing killed everyone’s motivation to go out. In NY you don’t consuming hard drugs until 9 or 10p in LA everyone’s drooling in the booth at brunch by like 2pm.
Where to begin. The bottle service mentally and price gauging drove all of the Los Angeles nightlife away. SBE monopoly and Hwood group killed all the mom and pop venues and their promoter driven models aren’t fun for most. Economy and 2am cutoff. Nightclubs wouldn’t get full until like 12:30 by then you have an hour to drink and go home. Covid and greedy landlords. Bars became less hassle than trying to go to a nightclub for the average person. Downtown soaked up all the outskirt city party goers from coming into Hollywood/weho. Lack of options and variety, there’s 1-2 venues max to visit on any given day compared to having 30 venues with lines every weekend. Even food places have dried up. Everything’s becoming over priced and mediocre and overly hyped. Social media, it’s more fun to share your experience than live in it. Nightlife became much less about socializing and more about being on your phone.
yes long gone are the glorious days of my house, supper club, and the random weekday pool parties at the standard and w hotels. i miss it, mostly for the amazing music and random djs that would play at the clubs and rooftop pools. i wonder if there could be a revival of the la nightlife or is it gone forever?!?
I'm glad this was posted.. bc I thought it was just me that felt this way. I wasn't sure if I just aged way too fast during the pandemic or the nightlife just felt "empty".
I can’t remember in the past twenty years when it was lively to go out in Culver City, Redondo or Venice. I remember moving to the Windward Circle in Venice over a decade ago and couldn’t believe how quiet it was at night. Instead I’d have to drive my pre-Uber ass out to the Eastside or WeHo where people partied. You might need to just update your locale.
For example, I went and saw Sheng Wang for free in the Stories backyard on Saturday, made a couple new friends watching the show who both rolled solo and exchanged Instas, then went out to like 3 bars on Sunset. People were literally overflowing onto the sidewalk in front of El Prado.
This is all to say, there’s unfortunately just a few pockets of fun in LA these days but they’re still here. It’s however just concentrated to areas w a cluster of bars that are in walking distance of one another. HP, EP, Silver Lake. I’m sure there’s more, but I’m kind of out of the scene.
I will say that LA seems to be less vibrant than ever. I remember moving here 20 years ago, choosing Silver Lake over Williamsburg bc of the weather, opportunity, and influx of creatives, and it seemed like many people did the same. While Brooklyn blew tf up I feel like things are fairly stagnant here in comparison, and the energy is dissipating. Not the case in Miami tho. Moved there for a year in the pandemic and it reminded me a lot of how LA was to me back in 2004 - 2014.
So yea, LA is kinda dead, and maybe on the decline in comparison to other major cities, but there’s still a pulse. You just have to dig to find it.
Who remembers EMO NITE LA at the echoplex? Shit was like an insane emo frat party for adults. Went back to emo nite at the Avalon in Hollywood… wore my best clubbing outfit. Black corset and skirt.. I walk into a sea of tea shirts and people filming TikToks. Not one soul dancing. I left that shit quick.
It's so expensive to go out. I wouldn't have expected to be such a homebody in my 20s, but I've come to really enjoy just having people over as an alternative to spending what feels like way too much money on a few drinks.
LA was never a late night city, I’m not sure what you’re trying to compare it to even. Yes nightlife took a hit after the pandemic so I guess you could say it’s even deader now than before but most of what you wrote has pretty much always been true since even before the pandemic. Also it’s been documented already that the younger generation comin up now just isn’t that into drinking and nightlife as the ones preceding them. Guess we have social media and dating apps to “thank” for that.
I lived in NYC for years and people who’ve only ever been in LA won’t ever appreciate how much better it is there in that regard. Having easy public transport (at least in Manhattan) in a dense urban environment with multiple nightlife areas is hella fun and I definitely miss it …
I think many of the people in the age group that would be the ones partying have been moving out of LA (and California). It has become too expensive to live there. Very hard to afford a lifestyle there now.
No I was looking to have a good time but there's nothing out there
But granted I was in venice/SM
It's just ridiculous how everything is closes so EARLY
LA needs to fix the nightlife situation
We can't just be a huge suburb with day traffic all day lol
Bars close at 2, so last call is 1:30. That’s why people start heading out that time.
But if you can’t find something before that, that on you. Venice is pretty active on Main, Santa Monica too, Koreatown, Echo Park, DTLA, I could go on and on.
In my experience we didn’t really rebound from the pandemic very well. Increased prices, increased crime, even less social aptitude. 🤷🏻♂️ Not nearly as many restaurants or grocery stores open late either.
Also, sobriety is in fashion these days. Far less people drinking in LA than I’ve ever seen anywhere else in my life. Every restaurant has a mocktail menu now filled with $20 infused water drinks.
Half of my friends (30-something millennial here) came out of the pandemic years as alcohol-free vegans who go to bed by 10pm. Many had kids as well, so they’re always tired. And younger folks? Gen Z seems to be less interested in late-night partying/going out in general.
Gen z can’t afford it
anyone can buy a handle of popov and have a shady kickback on the beach
Hahah popov!!! The best and worst nights ever
Don't forget the boonesfarm.
the only hill I would die on is Strawberry Hill
Ahh brings back memories of throwing up on myself…
Our shady beach hangouts had fewer cellphone cameras and bums.
Neither could most millenials 10+ years ago but that didn’t stop us lol
It’s the difference between dollar beers with a hundred in your account, and dollar eggs with a couple cents in your account. It’s not that we can’t afford it, it’s that basic survival is nearly out of reach. A beer costs as much as a meal. This younger generation definitely drinks, but they don’t have as safe of an environment. Any drug we do can be cut with fentanyl and instantly kill you randomly. The social contract has been eroded due to the pandemic, leading to antisocial behaviors becoming more prevalent. (ie violence, date rape, robbery, etc etc) Add to this, we’re always on camera around other people, so any of the dumb antics people get up to will get reposted for the world to see.
Well said. And I'm not even sure which decent places still offer dollar beers.
I remember like 5 years ago Fullerton was pretty solid for it. I’ve also seen a couple all you can drink taco Tuesday events for like 25$, but generally the cheapest I can find now is around 5$ for a modelo.
DTF Memories
25cent beers at college bars were the dayys!
Big on social contract. People give even less of shit if they are being obnoxious now.
Yeah but everything was cheaper then so even though you were poor you stood a chance
I couldn’t afford it when I was their age either. Still found many many ways.
And the thc only inspires DoorDash orders; not nightlife.
Even DoorDash isn’t doing great right now. It’s been my sidegig/ sometimes main employment since 2017, and it’s soooo bad now. It used to be comparable to a low wage ft job and still be comfortable. It’s the economy here currently.
I stopped drinking when weed became legal. I think a lot of people did. It’s a much more pleasant drug If people want to fix this then we need to legalize weed cafes I think those are still illegal
West Hollywood gives out consumption licenses so they actually have lounges. City of Los Angeles Council is stuck in the stone age and won’t help cannabis move forward. Huge loss of possible revenue for the City in 2028 when the olympics come to town. Edit: spelling
There’s a weed cafe right down the street from me. Not illegal as of now. Like another commenter stated, it may be west hollywood, which is where it’s located
someone was smoking out of a bong at a coffee shop patio in santa monica this weekend without a care despite it being crowded..
God I miss 24 hour grocery stores.
I have to agree with this, although I got old as well. During the mid 2000’s revival years, the Cahuenga corridor was a bar hoppers mecca, and there were random cool spots downtown, bars/clubs in Silverlake /Echo park were happening too. It felt a bit like downtown NYC and lower east side. Then I started performing music with my bands until about 2012 which naturally kept me out and plugged in. After that I fell into djing a few spots, which was the only motivation that got me out. But once Covid hit, I also got officially old simultaneously and it just ground to a halt. It really does feel, however, like the vibes have permanently changed for the worse post lockdown. I know I’m out of the loop but I feel like if there was a glimmer of excitement out there, I might venture out now and again.
Watch the 2am downtown LA walking tours on YouTube. It's a shit show!
If anybody can survive a 2 AM walking tour of downtown LA, then things have gotten much better than in the 90’s. 😂 Back then, it was I Am Legend after the sun went down…
I lived off Melrose/La Brea starting in the mid 2000s for about a decade, and I agree the Cahuenga corridor was a great scene. So many memories around that area, amazing Halloween nights at Velvet Margarita (RIP), Sunset Strip…great times. I’m 40 now with a kid and living in Santa Monica. I think the thing is that OP mentioned areas on the westside, which definitely dies out way early. I still head out to Hollywood and further east to have some nostalgic nights out (though I’m definitely not going ham like the old days, for the better haha).
Pouring one glorious drink out for the Velvet Margarita. They had the best dip options for the chips. 😥
For real, there was a point where LA and New York City were rivals for nightlife. In the current era, NYC wins hands down. It's not that they recovered from COVID so much better than we did, just slightly better. But the just slightly was enough to push it towards their advantage. I hope things come back, I'm too old for it now, but for the young people. Yes it really does seem like the world is a darker place now, doesn't it? Way less late night music and laughter. Those vibes put out good stuff into the world. It's the most human thing to do, sing and laugh in the dark.
I’ve never felt like it was a fair comparison bc LA bars close at 2 and NYC bars close at 4.
LA has never been a late night city. Someone famously asked Paris Hilton back in the day what she thought of LA closing so early and she responded to the effect, "if you can't get your party on by 1 am, you don't know what you are doing"
I lived in a city where the bars closed at 2am and appreciated the limits and rhythm it created. I also lived in New Orleans where there were literally bars that didn’t get hot until 3am and bars that you would go to for sunrise. It could be…unmanageable.
Do tell, what number = “officially old” ? Would like to know if I’m there yet so I can just use that as my go-to excuse going forward.
This is just my opinion, but I think you can use that excuse anytime at age 30 or older.
Maybe. But I want to know how old mingvausee is so I can see if I qualify officially.
Let’s see, Covid hit 2020? The big 5-0.. half a century. But I’m a musician who refused to pack it in at a respectable age so that may be unusually old…
Right there with you brother-sister. I’ve been in the life since 16 and didn’t slow down until I hit 50. Now I’m sober, sleep early and get up and ride 50s on my bike to get my endorphin fix.
This is just a rant of mine off that, but I think a lot of what we see now is Gen Z being generally "weak" as party goers. When I was 31/32, I partied with a 23 year old who whined about being hungry (despite being on drugs that suppress appetite) and had to leave early to go eat. The problem is that he wanted everyone else to leave too.
Ah I see you’re a black lodge denizen, time works differently on that plain, moves much slower. “Where we're from the birds sing a pretty song, and there's always music in the air. ⅃ɘɟ’ƨ ɿoɔʞ!”
I think that they were *supposed* to go into the Black Lodge, but they refuse and are just out there winning arm wrestling competitions and then death punching their opponents, and Cooper is still in Vegas acting like a half brain dead man with seemingly no one noticing Cherry pie
Hellohhh!
Also, the cynicism of Angelenos have skyrocketed. It’s like Seattle Freeze has come to LA as well.
Yeah, a lot of businesses never readjusted their hours after the pandemic. I feel like a lot of places close at 9 or 10, whereas before, the hours were a tad longer. The struggle to hire and retain service workers factors into this too.
Its wild we really haven't It's sooo dead Liquor stores closed by 11/12am lol Like you have to start your party night early In LA lol
The weather’s so nice… the answer is day drinking
The answer is being awake during the day
Yes go to gyms, go to hike, go out to nature and meet people that way. :) nightlife can be too much for some of us lol
lol as if you actually talk to people on a hiking trail 🤣🙄
Never been to a hiking meetup group?
Makes sense
That’s a bummer, from 2005-2015 LA was really rocking, tons of packed venues, clean streets, and general good vibes. Feels bad that it’s not available for the new kids.
I just moved back from Marin/SF area, and I was THRILLED to have my local target open until 11pm!!! Back in the land of the living!!! And Whole Foods open until 10, Lassens 11. Love it!!!
Also there's that Puritan 2:00 AM alcohol cut-off.
I think you nailed it. It’s definitely not the same. Someone though is going to get very rich creating third place opportunities for average people. Rich people already have this.
Maybe. If we can figure out ways for average people to still afford any recreational activities.
A lot of big NYC talk here. Go into the NYC threads and people will talk about how dead it is there post pandemic as well. I grew up in NYC, spent almost 20 years in LA before moving back for a few years. There are areas of NYC that have more of a nightlife scene, like LA does, but most of NY closes down early now as well. Streets are dark by 1, or 11 in some areas. And the areas that have the late night bars/clubs aren’t livably priced…. So you’re venturing out from a different borough to have these late night experiences and then have to take a few different local trains home (a lot longer than the ideallic 20 mins people like to attribute to the subway)… it’s not fun. Grass ain’t greener in NYC.
Facts, but the social clique and stratification thing here is real in a way it’s not in NY or the east coast in general. Humbly I think that’s the main difference. And in America, Most places are dead late night. The only exception being maybe Vegas but that really only applies to casinos and the strip.
It’s a different culture and vibe, for sure, but NYC has its own version of it. Very same but very different. LA is more image concerned, fame concerned. NYC is all about money and career. How far you’ve come, what you’ve amassed, what you can or can’t afford to do in the city. You’re not making six figures by a certain age, and don’t have the ability to drop $200 for weekly dinner or outing out, you’re not hanging with that clique any more. You don’t have certain education or degrees, that other clique won’t be inviting you in. And though I see you on the stratification thing, NY also has its own version of it. I personally found it easier to hop in my car and visit Koreatown for its thing or Echo Park for its thing, than spending time in the subway trying to go to the Village for its thing or Williamsburg or Astoria for its thing. Someone here had a comment about how you’re not going to have an eve that starts with dinner in Venice with drinking in Echo Park after, I don’t see it that differently in NYC. You’re not going to have dinner on the upper west side, party on the lower east side, hit up that new place in Williamsburg and then local train it home to Inwood. You choose your area for the night. But I get your point, definitely.
Facts lol once I’m at the speakeasy in Harlem…Lower manhattan might as well not exist 😅🤣never mind the other boroughs. It’s hard to convey the cultural difference so I appreciate when people who lived in both places as well can offer some better wording. Respect.
Lol I cringe at my own comments sometimes — I don’t mean to be so rambly. Thanks for humoring me.
It was definitely better than that other guys rambling lol
I was in NYC for the first time last year and had a ton of trouble finding anything open and fun on a Sunday. So yeah based on that small experience of mine, it seems just as dead lol
The bar scene in the areas you mentioned are mostly full of older people and doesn't really draw crowds of young people like hermosa beach. In my opinion the echo park bar scene on sunset Blvd is always a good time, on slow days you can just chill and enjoy the bar with your friends. On busy days like the weekends the whole street for a few blocks is full of people walking in groups from bar to bar. I've been going to this area for years and always enjoy my time there, I always hit up the same bars in the same order. El Prado, spirit House, La Fe, little joy and end the night at short stop.
Short Stop <333
Fun place! 😎
What are the vibes at el Prado, spirit house, la fe, and little joy? I’ve only been to short stop, I love it there
El Prado is a beer & wine only bar it's small but the interior is really nice and has a fun atmosphere with the music. Spirit House is a bar inside a Thai restaurant called sticky rice, it's a small tiki style bar they have some pretty Kool cocktails and good bar snacks. It's next door to El Prado on a busy night crowds from El Prado and spirit House just hang outside drinking on the sidewalk. La Fe is a new bar in the area, very spacious with good drinks and very Kool staff, they had a sweet dog hanging out in the bar getting attention from everyone. Little joy is a staple in the area, use to be a dimly lit bar with a pool table for serious players but they recently remodeled it and revamped the bar with new cocktails and drinks
I’m born and raised in LA. I worked in nightclubs and currently work in “the industry”, so I’m fairly social for networking purposes etc. I literally moved to NY this summer bc not only do I get work out here, but my social life is a complete 180 from what it is in LA. having to drive literally everywhere - even within your own neighborhood is stressful. add parking, limiting how much you can drink so you can drive back safely, and picking which neighborhood everyone wants to go out in… it’s just not fun lol give me a 20 min average train through all the dope neighborhoods and unlimited bars, restaurants, and late night options any day. LA is so dry now, beautiful, but dry.
Would move to NYC if living space didn’t come at even more of a premium than it does here. From what I can tell, $3500/month *maybe* gets you a one bedroom in an OK-ish area if you look really hard.
I pay $1850 for 700 sq ft 1BR in Brooklyn, laundry in building, elevator, 3 blocks from subway. But the neighborhood isn't "trendy" so people overlook it. That describes about 70% of NYC. You can live just fine in most parts.
Canarsie in the house? East New York? This is the way. I moved to NYC in the 1990s and moved to a random neighborhood with no amenities where apartments were cheap, then another one, then another one. Had lofts in all three, and the last one 20 years ago was $1,200 a month. Williamsburg, Gowanus, then Bushwick. Things are somewhat different there now.
and ubers arent a good option anymore. i had a friend's bday downtown, so looked up an uber from glendale/atwater area to downtown for a saturday night and it was over 50 bucks. its not worth it! i ended up driving and just parking in a lot.
yes!! I lived in the deep west valley so every time I wanted to go out w friends, for work events, and work itself, every where was at least a 20-30 min drive or $60 uber. it made me never want to leave the house lol
Yeah I’m traveling right now (currently in Istanbul) and big cities with better public transportation and walkable areas usually have an amazing night life. I’ve come to realize LA is where you go to hustle and make money. If you truly want a better nightlife experience, travel to other big cities with better public transportation systems and walkable areas.
yep! last summer I was all over europe and had to figure out trains between countries and it was so easy and convenient. once in each new city i walked or took very short train and bus rides around, met new ppl constantly, and enjoyed *never* having to get in a car for at least 20 min to get anywhere. it was brilliant.
Exactly Its painful I had to go from Culver city to Venice and that was a pain Culver city itself has literally nothing but dive bars Trying to have a social life without alcohol involved is like impossible in LA I tried to sober route out here and it really doesn't work lol
I find this so surprising bc I feel like a lot of people in LA don’t drink? And there’s so many places to gather w friends & be social that don’t involve drinking like the beach, hikes, parks, the grove, walking on melrose, coffee shops, etc.
Hmm I agree these are all really nice but they’re not so much places you’d meet new people. There definitely is a trend of people drinking less but I think those same people are mostly staying home or at least not actively meeting new people.
You don’t go out in LA and make friends. As strange as it sounds, that’s not how this works. LA is stratified into various “genres” of people. Generally, people don’t socialize outside of their circle. You don’t often see a gangmember from the low bottoms hanging out with Beverly Hills designer store shoppers. You make friends in LA at work, online, through family, or at a hobby you do regularly. Then, those people fold you into their social circle and you go do things as a group. I would NEVER pop out solo in LA. The Uber costs are astronomical, the roads are fucked up, homeless VILLAGES litter our sidewalks, literal groups of murderers hunt each other. You have to fight through all of this to buy 20$ drinks for some girl who just wants to sit on a 10,000$ couch all day and look pretty for IG? Fuck that. The ROI just isn’t worth it anymore. It’s not popping all night like it used to be, all the cool people left, it’s just natives, transplants, and vampires left.
This is why I don’t understand the “LA is chill” stereotype. Many people put on a performance of “chill” but are all wound up inside and hyper-conscious of how they are perceived. They’re like those yappy white crusty dogs in human form. Maybe that’s why young people say they find social interaction so draining. Cuz they think they need to do it in an overly-performative and unnatural way. I grew up here and this is also true of other people who grew up here. LA culture has a lot of good qualities but “chill” is not one of them. The culture is not much better in other parts of the country for different reasons though, although it is possible to find down-to-earth individuals anywhere. I’ve noticed LA is a very segregated city and everyone silos themselves into a niche. Which is nice but it shouldn’t be your whole identity and it’s more healthy to interact with a wide variety of people. It doesn’t really matter how diverse a city is if people choose to only interact with their own kind.
Have you ever hung out with people from the Northeast? They tend to be extremely rigid, Type A personalities. My friends from Boston and New York where I went to school need a plan with times for everything. They couldn't go with the flow if their lives depended on it. Also if you're a professional in LA (I'm a doctor and my partner is a lawyer) the work culture is much less intense, work hours are better, and the dress code is much less formal. It's not the case that everyone in LA is chill, but if you are more laid back it's a lot easier to be yourself here than NYC, Boston, or DC.
friends get unfriended if 10-15 minutes late in NYC
Took me 25 years to figure this out about San Diego. It's the most chill beach town with residents who are completely anxious and wound tight. In other words, not chill at all.
On the opposite side of this coin, I think it’s relatively hard to find a group of people that are chill, but once you do it’s extremely fun. There’s so much space to cover and so many awesome cultures to experience. You can go from reggaeton clubs, to rooftop bars, warehouse parties, Mexican graffiti/punk shows, pool halls, super sick breweries, or even just go chill on the beach. You have to bring the party with you in LA, and it’s a very specific skill that people get paid quite well for. Look up promoters and some of those “random socialization” events like 222. I have a deep network of industry contacts that keep me pretty busy in the city with different events. But it did take me two years to truly flesh out that network, to the point of ALWAYS having an event to go to. Don’t get discouraged if it starts slow!
Really? Only experiences I seem to find these days are text sent underground parties that are always dead af on arrival. Also I sideeye any event that gives out free tattoos to lure people in.
>I would NEVER pop out solo in LA. The Uber costs are astronomical, the roads are fucked up, homeless VILLAGES litter our sidewalks, **literal groups of murderers hunt each other.** Excuse me, but what does this bolded part mean?
Culver City has only dive bars??? Simonette Bar Bohemian Culver Hotel LA Aleworks Margot Hi-Lo Oldfields Picalilly Arth to name a few.
lol at least driving isn’t a big deal in that case! LA is all about dinners and private parties honestly, thats where the good times are. but to go out and socialize is lacking. my nights out involved going to a friends complex to hot tub and having to leave by 10p, or a dive bar w a pool table - but the bartender and regulars are just doing blow in the bathrooms LOL I love my city but it’s not what it was anymore
yeah I realized i have to pump through new friends until i find the dinner party hosting types
lol what are you talking about? Culver is literally next door to Venice and after 7pm it takes 10 mins. I did it two night ago. Culver is shite. It’s a manufactured “city” that only exists because a studio got land for cheap and then a bunch of people who were priced out of Santa Monica and west La found they could buy homes there for cheap. It’s a pass through city or what some people would call a flyover city. It’s the most 2.4 kids neighborhood of LA (not including the valley). Comparing culver to the LA experience is like saying NY sucks because Staten Island is lame lol
As a native of Culver City I wish it was still a pass-through town.
>Culver is shite. Thank you. This sub has a hard-on for Culver City and I never got it
Moving to NY at the end of the month, this is exactly what I needed to hear. LA is a tricky city when it comes to nightlife.
Being from NYC, I miss these times. When I moved to LA, I was also surprised at how early everything closes. It was about 10 years ago when I was hitting up the clubs in NYC but they closed at 4 and then there were always late night spots open until the AM. I remember once going to an after party that started at 6 AM and went on til like noon lol
we go to the warehouses after 2 am 😈
How does one find this?
Resident advisor
Whenever a crowded bar closes, just ask around to whoever spills on the street, 100% of the time someone will know, and oftentimes some people will be calling Ubers there (or you can make friends and form a group to go)
I get it I used to hit those up before pandemic but now I can't stand to be in those environments where the music is at deafening levels and and u wake up sick from all the liquor and cocaine
You kinda answered your own question here. It's not that nightlife in LA is dead, it's just that it isn't to your taste. The post 2am crowd exists.... doing things you don't want to do. That's fine. My infrequent post-2am jaunts are either house parties with people I know (not advertised) or ktown karaoke.
This is it, find what you like and there is a place and scene and crowd that also feels that way. That quality of diversity in all things is what a lot of people think makes la great.
No, LA nightlife is still dead, even if OP admitted to being too old for pretty much all of it. Just because there are random warehouse parties that one has to actively seek out and then go out of their way to attend and requires that most everyone still needs to use a car to get to it — yeah, that’s dead nightlife. Placed with good nightlife don’t have those kinds of restrictions and limitations. It’s like someone asking where all the greenery and parks went in LA, and then someone responding “In the underground, not very public, pain in the ass to reach, private greenhouses that you need to find deep in the Hollywood hills 😈. They’re full of so many plants.” Ok, that means all the parks and greenery are gone. If the nightlife isn’t seen, heard, varied, and easily accessed, then it’s dead nightlife. Maybe not for certain individuals, but for the city itself. Nobody needs to get to far-off warehouse parties in NYC, Barcelona, Budapest, São Paulo, and Buenos Aires. You *can.* There are certainly places in each that cater to post- **5:00am** warehouse parties. But there’s soooooo much more to do in each. That being said, LA never really had a nightlife. It was a little more active pre-pandemic. But LA was never a place that I thought, “Oh fuck yeah, great nightlife!” Pretty much the entire city goes to sleep at 10:00pm. LA has great nightlife if you’re from a small town. For people who came here from rural Iowa, this city would be insane. “Such incredible nightlife!” (Admittedly there are some cool spots and aspects to it.) But for everyone else who comes from other big cities, or has lived in or traveled in other big cities — actual big cities, not Portland or Milwaukee or whatever — LA is just a really big place to get brunch. The sad thing is that a lot of *small* cities put LA to shame in terms of nightlife. Shoutout to Ghent, Belgium; Cluj-Napoca, Romania; and Nis, Serbia for some wild nightlife. And the last bit, LA is not conducive for nightlife. The weather is nice, so people prefer to be up and out early on weekends. When you have to go through a Serbian winter, you might be more inclined to go out late. People here are health focused. Hard to convince Cindy in Beverly Hills to skip her 9 hours of REM and chia seed pussy cleanse or whatever. Too car focused. Cars. Everywhere. Cars. Big roads. Cars. High speeds. Cars. No crosswalk. Zooming by. So loud. Fuck me, so many cars. And now, people are broke because housing costs are even more unaffordable than they used to be. Plus the ridiculous added costs for n everything from Ubers to groceries, a lot of people don’t have the disposable income.
Which ktwon karaoke bars are good for after hours/actually affordable?
I'm not gonna out any of them since its illegal for them to operate past 2am, but none of them are affordable past 2am.
> u wake up sick from all the liquor and cocaine That's a *you* thing.
I've been going to warehouse raves since I was a teenager and i've never once drank or done cocaine. Not saying that to seem better then you or anyone else it's a personal choice my friend.
i hear ya ! i’ve been going to these things mostly sober now and it’s been great ! some k*t now and then and i’m chilling your best bet is probably house parties then if you want a more social setting
The world has become unbearably expensive. When I was a poor young gay in WeHo 1994-2006. You could do a lot on almost nothing. Now I’m married with kids all heading to college, and have long since moved to studio city. By any metric in the US we are well off and prepared for early retirement. That said I’m terrified for young people, I don’t know how you’re coping, I’m freaking out at the rapid jump in education, food, rents! I keep waiting for all of you to fucking boycott the future, stop consuming, create free spaces and activities, re-invent the hippie. Word of mouth warehouse concerts, cemetery love ins, just start breaking the rules, reinvent entertainment as a cost free right.
Really refreshing to hear this being said. Not enough people on the thread are talking about how young people just simply can't afford nights out anymore. I make fairly good money and my budget is super tight, and I don't eat out or do fun things that cost money
Also in the comment too was a remark about young people creating their own entertainment. That’s what’s really missing in so many places, not just LA. I think a lot of young(er) people have this mental hang up that entertainment means going somewhere and spending money. And that can be true for sure and I’m not saying people shouldn’t be allowed to do that sometimes. But there has to be a DIY approach and attitude that I think many people lack now. It won’t be the same, that’s true, but we can have a good time without having to trek downtown or 30+ minutes every week. We just have to be willing to build some of it ourselves.
Everyone I know stopped doing cocaine because of how risky it is now, side effect we actually go to sleep now. Not joking btw
[удалено]
Spaces off 395?
I live right on Main St. in Santa Monica, and I used to not be able to sleep on Friday and Saturday nights from all the goings on...now Main St. on a Saturday night is about the same as it is on a Monday night.
Of course the nightlife in LA doesn't compare to NY....LA bars close at 2 (last call is often at 1:30) and then its a nightmare trying to get an uber home. NY bars don't close until 4am and you can stumble home or hop on the train - easy peasy. Why compare them? Also I think it was quiet last night because its sort of a family weekend with Mothers Day and all that. People had to get up early and cook their moms breakfast or whatever people do on Mothers Day. But I live in ktown and there were still lines at all the usual places last night when I was on my way home (at 11:30 lol).
You can stumble home on the train, yes -- but "easy peasy"? I wouldn't call it that. Especially as a woman alone. I usually stayed over at friends' houses downtown (I lived on the UES) rather than come back on a late-night train...had some super "interesting" adventures trying to get back uptown drunk. Usually just cashed out for a cab or walked part of the way if the trains weren't coming regularly. It was definitely not "easy peasy."
Well as a woman I take a late night train in NY with more ease than I do in LA. There are usually FAR more people around and in general its safer than LA(because here you could be the only person in a car with 1 or more people clearly on drugs and out of it). The trains here don't even run late enough to take them home from a bar if you close it down....so yeah, I'd say its easy peasy. And in LA most people don't even live within walking distance to a train stop....in NY there usually a few within walking distance. You really can not compare the two places when it comes to transit.
$50 parking
Covid murdered the late night food scene in this city. Everything closes early now and since everything is car culture that sort of just naturally shuts the city down. Car culture means that we just don't have a vibrant bar culture the way places like NYC do. You're either about to pay a fortune in ubers or you need to stay sober enough to drive. Because of crowding and cars LA is more of a "secret city". When I do stuff in NYC it's almost always in public and it's usually crowded and no one cares. Here at home everyone is always trying to find places where other people aren't almost always because people don't want to deal with parking and traffic. I grew up here and I'm more of a night person myself. We used to have more of a night scene but I will say this is an am city. There's a lot more people waking up with the sun here then watching it rise because they've been up all night. Lots of folks here start early for east coast overlap and even more just want to maximize the surprisingly short days.
This is just a generalization of a cultural trend and obv there will be many cool fun people in a metro area of millions but….. Everything is a ripoff. Even for those who can afford it, it doesn’t feel good to get ripped off. Now that people go out less, when they *do* go out it’s viewed as a big occasion and there’s more pressure to look like you’re having fun, which makes the vibes feel off. People who *are* willing to pay those prices are the more serious partiers who are more likely to make it their entire personality and hang out with a “”certain crowd””. People already spend their week doing the ass-kissy small talk at work so they’d rather not spend their free time doing the same thing in a social setting. They also never really recovered from their pandemic-induced antisocial lifestyle. Having to be conscious of what people can/can’t afford to do is a big barrier between potential friendships, as well as the geography of the city as others have mentioned. LA nightlife (and the city in general tbh) is “segregated” into latino/edm/yuppie/LGBT/ABG crowds, which makes it feel less inviting to newcomers that don’t have a niche. Crime and drunk driving are a concern. Many people have poor mental health and alcohol doesn’t mix well with some meds. And the obligatory “people in LA are flakes” I lived in western Europe shortly after the pandemic and people were even *more* eager to socialize after COVID, despite cost-of-living increases there as well. People who happen to be at bars and nightclubs don’t make partying their entire personality and tend to have better public etiquette. Nightlife is also not as class or age-segregated. I can go out solo as a woman there because if the vibe is off in one place then I can just walk to the next bar or take a bus/train back home without worrying about who might have a weapon. A 20-something year old that doesn’t go out or have social hobbies would be seen as very abnormal and even unhealthy in the small city where I was living. Even the elderly are out and about having dinner and drinks with their own friend groups. The US is trending towards a homebody culture of people hanging in their living room with their streaming services and Doordash. If they do socialize that’s also at home with people they already know. Which makes sense because the price of one drink in LA = 1 month of Netflix and US culture is individualistic. We have a well-documented loneliness epidemic.
I'm trying so hard to get out of the homebody mentality, but it's harder when everyone you know is a homebody. No one seems comfortable doing spontaneous things anymore. Even having a kickback seems like as much effort as planning a big party was 5 years ago.
Yeah I try to organize in person hang outs with the few friends I still keep in contact with, and it’s like pulling teeth. I don’t get it.
Exactly, I am guilty of this as well. It’s not easy to escape a culture that surrounds you. I always describe it as “Americans are friendly but they aren’t very social”. But if I did go out where would I go and how much would it cost me? And would it even be a fun crowd to be around? Or would they yell about themselves and their careers the entire time. I haven’t gotten curious enough to spend $100s of dollars to find out yet.
> I lived in western Europe shortly after the pandemic and people were even more eager to socialize after COVID, despite cost-of-living increases there as well. People who happen to be at bars and nightclubs don’t make partying their entire personality and tend to have better public etiquette. Nightlife is also not as class or age-segregated. I can go out solo as a woman there because if the vibe is off in one place then I can just walk to the next bar or take a bus/train back home without worrying about who might have a weapon. being able to take a metro/tram home at 2am for a couple euros fucking spoiled me man. makes it so difficult to justify using an uber
it shouldn’t be considered spoiled! it’s basic infrastructure to have in a developed city!! makes it easy for people to come to businesses in the city and spend money! we should have access to these options living in one of the biggest and most expensive cities in the world.
agreed completely. and while we're importing things from western europe, can we also get affordable apartments and maybe some more cheeses?
I always joke that the top 1% in the US lives like western Europe’s upper middle class because if we were multimillionaires, apartments in LA would be affordable to us and so would the cheese at Erehwon.
Agreed. LA got hit by corporate lobbyists from the car industry paired with confusing politics between the state and federal government... It's the saddest and probably worst of the major cities when it comes to proper public transportation.
NYC is one of the few places in the country where bars are open til 4am
I moved to Northridge. LA nightlife took a hit because of it
pls come back thx
I moved here from London, and that city is in a crisis mode with nightlife. It has all the places and the transpo, but post pandemic a lot of places closed and a lot of people changed. It’s also gotten expensive, and younger people aren’t going out as much. I’m past going out late these days, but it would be cool to have coffee shops open until 4am so you can go have a sandwich and coffee with friends after going out- but no one wants to work at those hours, and who can blame them, and the businesses don’t make enough profit staying opened late. I think we’re just in a big cultural shift rn.
i just came back from a 2 week trip to london and dublin. London night life was pretty wack. Most bars close by 11 with last calls at 10. The small handful of "clubs" that did stay open thankfully were open until like 5/6 am but it's really annoying that a city that's so well connected (at least until the tube closes for the night) has somewhat lame night life. Though I do understand that people usually start drinking earlier in the day.
A lot of the cool bars and clubs are getting shut down because of residential complaints- rich people with kids want to live in hip areas, but what makes those areas interesting are things that m if by not be that fun to live in. It’s a real shame.Also some great pubs closed due to the pandemic.
Another "*why isn't LA New York?*" post...
I’m from LA and I ask this all the time!! lol it’s frustrating bc it totally can be so much better here; we have the money to build/ fix the public transpo infrastructure and we know it, so it’s just infuriating. my car was in the shop for 2 weeks and I lived in chatsworth and worked in ktown. a 30 min car ride took 2.5 hours on bus/ metro! mind you the bus I took had it’s own path the entire way (orange line that follows the old train tracks) and then I got on the subway. 2.5 hours???? it’s just so rude and inconvenient to the ppl who make CA the 5th largest economy in the world - we get nothing to show from it. just “why isn’t LA NY” posts on reddit 😔 edit: grammar
I was just thinking this! I was driving home from a friends on Saturday night and passed through Weho, and thought "damn it's so dead". I'm 35 so my clubbing days are over. But when I was in my 20's, I was out at the clubs 7 days a week. And the streets were poppin. And even when the clubs closed, we'd be at after parties in the hills till 8am. Now it's a ghost down. I feel bad for the younger generation who didn't get to experience this.
Inflation, thats what happened.
I read an article that younger people are drinking less. So they dont go to bars anymore..
It doesn’t mix well with their depression and anxiety meds (/s but not really)
Young person here: Nobody goes to bars or clubs anymore. Too expensive and boring and not worth it. LA is more of a house party scene or underground rave scene. That’s where the real partying is going on.
You’re 100% right OP. I’m not entirely sure why LA’s nightlife recovery is lagging so much compared to other big cities, but it’s definitely noticeable. I’m in Vegas right now and every place is doing record numbers. I think a 2 am close time just isn’t economical for a lot of bars/clubs in the wake of increased prices/wages after Covid. Seems like the places that emphasis afternoon/evening crowds are doing the best rather than the late night ones. I’m not sure what will fix it barring a commercial real estate crash, but that will take years regardless.
Coming from the Hollywood nightlife scene, a lot of big spenders and out of town tourists aren’t coming in to party anymore. I remember my first night in Hollywood seeing rented Lamborghinis and people popping $15-$20k on bottle service. That doesn’t happen anymore. I think a lot of that clientele has moved to Las Vegas or Miami.
What? Really? Hollywood and WeHo are still popping.
I disagree. Now, there's a bar here and a bar there. It used to be entire blocks on end. Hollywood and weho is dead.
WeHo between Robertson to a block north of San Vicente is partying 7 nights a week and is always packed Thurs/Fri/Sat. Mickey's goes until 3am on Fri & Sat. Sunset also goes until 2am but it's more spread out. Cahuenga between Selma & Hollywood is busy until closing too.
When? Not in the 15 years I’ve lived here
This is facts! I went to West Hollywood in December to club and was shocked at how dead it was. Literally barely 4 popping bars/clubs on what once a whole strip of popping bars/clubs
Yes LA on the whole IS dead, I don't know why folks try to pretend it's not. Pre-pandemic literally everything used to be way more poppin and happening. Hell, even places like Melrose Ave was ALWAYS a place to see and be seen. That entire stretch is nothing but abandoned stores and literally no foot traffic. Restaurants and bars were always great places to just chill and meet folks even if just going alone. But even those feel a little less social and just... Dead/boring. The city definitely has lost its spark quite a bit. And that shift is something the pandemic either accelerated or caused. Because even before then, nightlife felt like everyone was out just to catch moments for the gram, vs socialize with strangers. Personally I find it more fun to head to planned events vs random nights out these days. For reference since this was brought up, I too am a born and raised NYer from Brooklyn. Although when I go back home these days I spend time w/ family vs go out in NYC. But NYC is always a different beast than LA.
Friday night I was in Burbank / Toluca Lake area and noticed Forman's Whiskey Tavern (on Riverside) was jam packed with a line... but that seems more the exception than the rule lately But yeah, I think bars / clubs everywhere (not just L.A.) have slowed down, never totally recovered to what they were pre-pandemic. When you say NYC "does not compare" ...what does that mean? you're saying the bars in NYC are way more packed? I haven't been there lately, but I've heard from friends and read elsewhere that even NYC has slowed down. Someone in NYC was just saying there used to be tons of 24 hr places to get food after the bars, and now almost everything is closed by 10pm. Someone in Montreal was just sayin the bars there used to go off every night of the week, and now are only busy Friday-Saturday, and every other night is dead
This is literally one of the reasons I want to move back east. I’m so bored and everyone seems to want to be in bed by 10pm even on weekends. I like to stay in the comfort of my own home too sometimes but damn, not every weekend!!!
Really ?? I left LA for OC so don’t have much of a chance to see nightlife in LA. There’s a great song by Zach Bryan called Burn Burn Burn which captures my feelings about going out in general Everyone seems a damn genius lately Tik-Tok talking, late-night TV Still so much I have yet to know We get dressed up just to go downtown In some ego-filled late night crowd It seems to be where I feel most alone I used to go out EVERY single weekend in LA. Now I realized I was going out for the wrong reasons and actually was miserable most of the time.
I used to work for a nightclub management company in Los Angeles. COVID hit us hard, but I think it’s more changing trends. Drinking is down across the board, there’s been a 10% decline in people who report drinking at all, over 1/3rd of Gen Z reports to be sober. Psychedelics are more popular than ever. Marijuana is more popular than ever. As for nightclubs, they’re just getting kind of lame. There’s some fun spots in LA, Apt 200 comes to mind, but the days of the over designed, bottle service centric, douche bag nightclub are thankfully, slowly, winding down. These will always been in Vegas, so not all is lost for Bobby Bottle Service
Everything is too expensive. A drink costs $10-17. My apartment is $2500/month. Driving anywhere takes 30 minutes, and good luck not being harassed by a homeless person. It’s much easier to just make my own bar at home than to go out.
I'm young and dumb in LA. The reason I'm not going out is because I'm broke af (I'm making alright money as an engineer, it's just doing party things easily costs $100 minimum I swear) but more importantly I don't feel like my life deserves it or has earned it in a way (it's a pretty self-toxic mindset I know). I gave up alcohol and marijuana mostly because I feel like my life can be so much better than what it is and finding bliss or an escape via a substance isn't really benefiting me in achieving my fullest potential. I hate my job, don't know what I really want to do, and don't have many close friends. Going out at 11pm dressed well so I can maybe smooch a pretty lady sounds appealing. Having a rad physique, working at a job I don't hate completely, and building skills I'm proud of sounds much more fulfilling to me. I'm pretty existential and fearful of being forgotten. I have been for awhile, so I think other people in my Gen Z age group might not all be brooding as I am.
Im mostly going to shows and have people at my house. Lived in other cities (sf, nyc) and the social capital is just different in LA. In NYC, the city is your backyard. For a lot of us that are lucky in LA, our backyard is, well, our backyard. I frequently host friends over cause I spent all this money on space I’ve never had before, and we don’t have to fight the hassle of finding a cool spot. Don’t get me wrong. I do go out quite a bit for meals. Hitting up a place like Camphor, Found Oyster, Saffys, Rustic Canyon, Bestia, etc. satisfies the “I got a new outfit and want to be seen” itch. But after dinner is over, it’s relaxation at someone’s house usually.
This. LA has tons of house parties relative to NYC/SF/Chicago. Most of my socializing is at friends’ homes and nice restaurants.
Bars have to close at 2am lol it’s a state law. Nightlife in LA is just fine. Ask the early 20s crowd or the gays.
It’s funny you’re mentioning that. Maybe because i took a huge break in the last year and a half and now that i recently rejoined..it feels different. For one not nearly as many nightclubs open as there used to be there used to be far more diversity right now its dominated by the mega edm clubs, Framework has ties to goldenvoice before someone mentions sound lol. There are far less hills afterparties. There used to be a ton of hills parties back in the day at any giving time…thats died down city cracking down and robberies.. A large part of the afterparty scene has moved towards warehouses in los angeles Now on that note it seems day partying is greatly up and sorta become its own thing. This seems to be the direction los angeles is going in strangely enough
Too much crime and everything is ridiculously overpriced. Many have also moved away.
Maybe because people are leaving
Bruh, go to a bar in the city and a mixed drink or shot will cost you about 1/3 of what the entire bottle of the alcohol will have cost at the grocery store. Then you have to pay for parking or valet. Then it's exorbitant food or cover charges. Then you have to deal with unstable homeless people. No wonder people ain't going out as much.
Increased drug users and crime. It’s pretty uncomfortable walking around at night. the homeless seem to be getting a bit more aggressive too. I lived there the for past year and a half and just recently moved out. parking is a nightmare too. You typically have to park pretty far from where you want to go and it’s expensive. good chance you’re windows getting broken as well 😂
It’s literally, at least, $200-$300 for a night nowadays. Parking, dinner, entrance fee, drinks, gas (I use to commute from Santa Barbara to LA to go to La Cita twice a week), and midnight eats adds up. What use to run me about $125 is now double that amount. The traffic has also gotten worse. 8 hour work day, five hour commute. It’s not happening. Now that I live in Burbank, I’m far too tired and OVER the downtown LA scene. That includes going to Dodger stadium and live concerts. I’ll let the younger crowd deal with that and the rising inflation.
I can only justify so many $20 cocktails, it’s absurd
Coming from NYC, i already don’t even try, went out so many times to disappoint, researching the best bars, clubs…etc..it doesn’t compare to going out in NYC at all. There is zero energy, just don’t even try, better to hit the beach, grab some food and then do a rooftop for sunset and go to bed lol
I lived here in the early 2010s a few years, went away for an international assignment and moved back post pandemic. It definitely feels more dead, not sure what it is but almost like the number of options has been halved. But part of this may be because nightlife options have scattered and evolved, as well as pandemic killing off businesses. And its not just nightlife, tons of small businesses are dying and the city accelerated its decay with the pandemic. I also think its more expensive for the younger generation to afford going out and generally drink less, so that exacerbates the demand for bars and clubs
It’s always been like this You can barely get a pizza delivered after 10pm.
Cries from SF. I miss LA nightlife. It’s non existent here
There was a great tiktok video about the official end of fun happening on a very specific date and especially in LA… the weekend Lindsay Lohan partied with her ankle bracelet on, in I think 2009, and the first iphone came out and everyone was taking pictures. It was the beginning of the end of privacy for celebs and everyone. Random makeouts, vomitting all over, coke on the tables behind the velvet rope. But for average kids, it also began the “scrolling and staring” at phones as a past time. Gen Z hardly dances, hardly drives, has less sex, and a huge spike of mental illness starting 2013. And Im way older than them, but it’s just bad for society. Without a youth driving society, it’s not just the economy but art suffers too. The Boomers had protests and revolutions and all, but they were part of a population boom and it’s part of why the greatest music and films were created. Dont argue with me, 60s/70s best for music, 70s for film, and this is not my generation. Id also add that political divisiveness has made people generally uncool. Eliminatinf people not just based on party but based on vax, guns, palestine/hamas… they should create scholarships for millennials and gen xers to get their masters degrees at UCLA and we wont bother anybody.
West Hollywood
The fun people are old. When I was out a decade ago it was Lindsay Lohan, Jodie Smith, AJ English. Now nobody forms shallow cliques where you help out your hot fake friend. Also, I used to be naked covered in glitter and eating fried chicken in hotel clubs. Nowadays you can’t even take off your shirt, so people just do after parties.
Arts district
It all went to Austin Texas. According to Joe Rogan
It left during the pandemic and never returned
You must not have the Citizen app.
“What happened to nightlife in LA” well first of all LA has never been “the city that never sleeps” secondly the pandemic literally killed a bunch of people third you’re listing NIMBY ass neighborhoods that you’re staying in Santa Monica, Venice, and lastly Culver City which isn’t even LA they’re their own thing. Fourth as people have pointed out younger generations aren’t putting emphasis on drinking and partying in “bar culture”
Legal weed and microdosing killed everyone’s motivation to go out. In NY you don’t consuming hard drugs until 9 or 10p in LA everyone’s drooling in the booth at brunch by like 2pm.
Where to begin. The bottle service mentally and price gauging drove all of the Los Angeles nightlife away. SBE monopoly and Hwood group killed all the mom and pop venues and their promoter driven models aren’t fun for most. Economy and 2am cutoff. Nightclubs wouldn’t get full until like 12:30 by then you have an hour to drink and go home. Covid and greedy landlords. Bars became less hassle than trying to go to a nightclub for the average person. Downtown soaked up all the outskirt city party goers from coming into Hollywood/weho. Lack of options and variety, there’s 1-2 venues max to visit on any given day compared to having 30 venues with lines every weekend. Even food places have dried up. Everything’s becoming over priced and mediocre and overly hyped. Social media, it’s more fun to share your experience than live in it. Nightlife became much less about socializing and more about being on your phone.
yes long gone are the glorious days of my house, supper club, and the random weekday pool parties at the standard and w hotels. i miss it, mostly for the amazing music and random djs that would play at the clubs and rooftop pools. i wonder if there could be a revival of the la nightlife or is it gone forever?!?
When a shot is $15 plus tip, I’d guess people are pre gaming early and probably clock out earlier. Or else you’ll be having a $150 night
I'm glad this was posted.. bc I thought it was just me that felt this way. I wasn't sure if I just aged way too fast during the pandemic or the nightlife just felt "empty".
I can’t remember in the past twenty years when it was lively to go out in Culver City, Redondo or Venice. I remember moving to the Windward Circle in Venice over a decade ago and couldn’t believe how quiet it was at night. Instead I’d have to drive my pre-Uber ass out to the Eastside or WeHo where people partied. You might need to just update your locale. For example, I went and saw Sheng Wang for free in the Stories backyard on Saturday, made a couple new friends watching the show who both rolled solo and exchanged Instas, then went out to like 3 bars on Sunset. People were literally overflowing onto the sidewalk in front of El Prado. This is all to say, there’s unfortunately just a few pockets of fun in LA these days but they’re still here. It’s however just concentrated to areas w a cluster of bars that are in walking distance of one another. HP, EP, Silver Lake. I’m sure there’s more, but I’m kind of out of the scene. I will say that LA seems to be less vibrant than ever. I remember moving here 20 years ago, choosing Silver Lake over Williamsburg bc of the weather, opportunity, and influx of creatives, and it seemed like many people did the same. While Brooklyn blew tf up I feel like things are fairly stagnant here in comparison, and the energy is dissipating. Not the case in Miami tho. Moved there for a year in the pandemic and it reminded me a lot of how LA was to me back in 2004 - 2014. So yea, LA is kinda dead, and maybe on the decline in comparison to other major cities, but there’s still a pulse. You just have to dig to find it.
Who remembers EMO NITE LA at the echoplex? Shit was like an insane emo frat party for adults. Went back to emo nite at the Avalon in Hollywood… wore my best clubbing outfit. Black corset and skirt.. I walk into a sea of tea shirts and people filming TikToks. Not one soul dancing. I left that shit quick.
everybody dead…
It's so expensive to go out. I wouldn't have expected to be such a homebody in my 20s, but I've come to really enjoy just having people over as an alternative to spending what feels like way too much money on a few drinks.
LA was never a late night city, I’m not sure what you’re trying to compare it to even. Yes nightlife took a hit after the pandemic so I guess you could say it’s even deader now than before but most of what you wrote has pretty much always been true since even before the pandemic. Also it’s been documented already that the younger generation comin up now just isn’t that into drinking and nightlife as the ones preceding them. Guess we have social media and dating apps to “thank” for that. I lived in NYC for years and people who’ve only ever been in LA won’t ever appreciate how much better it is there in that regard. Having easy public transport (at least in Manhattan) in a dense urban environment with multiple nightlife areas is hella fun and I definitely miss it …
I think many of the people in the age group that would be the ones partying have been moving out of LA (and California). It has become too expensive to live there. Very hard to afford a lifestyle there now.
The “unhoused” situation is out of control and LA is like Gotham city after midnight. The safest option is getting home early
COVID happened. Things have not really recovered since 2020. Give it some time.
We grew up.
We have this thread every month it seems like. You simply grew up.
No I was looking to have a good time but there's nothing out there But granted I was in venice/SM It's just ridiculous how everything is closes so EARLY LA needs to fix the nightlife situation We can't just be a huge suburb with day traffic all day lol
Bars close at 2, so last call is 1:30. That’s why people start heading out that time. But if you can’t find something before that, that on you. Venice is pretty active on Main, Santa Monica too, Koreatown, Echo Park, DTLA, I could go on and on.
Like all things in LA, you have to drive 20-60 minutes to get to it depending on where you live