I don’t go to bars, but I have social anxiety. So I’m not typical. I do go to concerts and sporting events and other social events, though. Even if I were more normal, I doubt I would be happy with the expense. Most people I know spend even at cheap bars more than I make in a month. I couldn’t imagine multiple weekly happy hours as some kind of lifestyle requirement, at least not as a priority considering all the other uses of the time and money. Though I’m sure if I didn’t have social anxiety I would have a lot more money and possibly more tolerance of that environment. I have personally witnessed that going to bars can workout very well as an investment. My grandfather was a major alcoholic but had a thriving business. When he went to AA and stopped drinking, his business dried up as well.
Dunno about “popularity”, particularly by demographic, but the US census counts businesses. I found the data a pain in the ass to use.
NCAIS code 7224 is “Drinking Places (alcoholic beverages)”, the 2007 NAICS definition was “This industry group comprises establishments primarily engaged in preparing and serving alcoholic beverages for immediate consumption.”
Between 1997 and 2002 the number of such establishments declined from 52,825 to 48,856. The US population during that period increased by 15 million.
Here’s a link to the PDF: http://www.census.gov/prod/ec02/ec0200ccomp.pdf
By 2007, the number of drinking establishments declined to 46,924. That year, the population was 28.6 million higher than 1997.
So, obviously, and assuming the US Census and I haven’t totally fat-fingered the entire exercise, the number of drinking places per capita in the US has declined. That does not answer the OP’s question, though. It could be that young people, which I would define as 21-25, and I have no idea why anybody would read the OP and offer up their personal experiences when they’re over 30 but I digress, are going to fewer establishments more often or something. I did notice that alcohol wholesalers also declined, and I know that brewers have taken hits since the turn of the century. Wasn’t hard to find articles that say yanks are drinking less.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,398802,00.html
http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/Controversies/1116895242.html
An interesting side note on that last link is that it claims that Americans with more education and a higher economic status are less likely to abstain.
This exact thing is an issue for bars in college towns. I am having trouble linking to the article, but the NY Times did a piece on this about a year ago, the headline is “Last Call for College Bars.” It focused on Ithaca, of course.
Thanks for looking up those statistics.
As well as my kid’s business is going, it seems like the 18-22 year old age group definitely patronize hookah bars if not regular bars. At least in university areas.
I was at a Chicago bar on Saturday night (Alice’s Lounge, which doesn’t close until 4 or 5am depending on the night) and the place was packed to the gills with people who all appeared to be between 21-30. We were the old fogies that night, and we’re in our late 30s. Most of the people didn’t show up until at least 11pm.
When I hit 40 I started to notice a divide: the standard invite among co-workers continued to be happy hour, but among my friends it became brunch. None of us has kids or lives far from the District – in fact our preferred brunch spots tend to be downtown – we’re just old and these days we’d rather sit and eat than stand and drink. (But don’t get me wrong: at said brunches the mimosas definitely flow! :))
Thanks!
Friday night happy hour and Sunday brunch is de rigueur for most of my 23-33 year old friends. It’s a bit too hectic for me but I’d say it’s more often the norm than not.
The statement by Amateur Barbarian is simply gibberish. He is most likely at a place in his life where he and his peers are spending a lot of time LARPing or playing Warcraft and he is unaware that many, many young people are still hitting the bars full force. He is spending his evenings gaming and he thinks his peers are doing the same.
I can’t help but think there’s some confusion in this thread about what constitues a bar. If you’re talking about one of those hole in the wall places that pretty much has no windows and serves no food besides peanuts… yeah… those are dying out.
I’m 32, and live in Minneapolis, and pretty much any night of the week (and especially on the weekends and at places with patios in the summer) the “bars” (but really restaurants) are packed to the gills with people of all ages hanging out and drinking, sometimes for hours on end.
Asking if young people still go the bar, seems like asking “do young people still use the internet?” to me. and people acting like its only the dreggs of society that go bars, seems like saying “i’ve never even looked at the internet, it’s nothing but pornography and credit card scams”.
I used to practically live at the bar when I was in college. I avoided 8am classes specifically because they didn’t give me enough recuperating time. The only reason my drinking has dialed back now, is because there is no free bus system that will pick my drunk ass up after last call and deposit me back at my apartment and I’m too cheap for taxis.
This, of course. I swear some of the people on here are so socially maladjusted it’s almost unbelievable.
The numbers posted by Dave Hartwick don’t lie though. Fewer people are going to bars and the “hole in the wall bars” are definitely dying out. Restaurant/Bars are in better shape, but that’s not exactly the same thing as “going out to the bar.”
But those numbers don’t necessarily say that. They just say that there’s fewer drinking establishments per capita. It could just be an example of consolidation with all the Bar Louies of the world and things like that.
I wouldn’t be surprised if people, overall, drink less for economic reasons or health reasons. But judging by the clientele of the bars I frequent, the 21-35 demographic is by far the most strongly represented.
I guess. My bar days are behind me (I went regularly for like a year in my early 20s) and it’s just a vibe I get from today’s twentysomethings that bars aren’t the place to be.
All of the young folks I know spend a lot of time in bars. I don’t get the impression things have changed at all sine I was in my 20s, less than a decade ago.
Also, our population is getting older, isn’t it? That could very well explain why there are slightly fewer bars now.
So you never get a beer with a friend somewhere?
Nice place to be on a hot afternoon, though. There’s always a forty-something blonde happy to come over and spend the rest of the day without wanting commitment. I’ve heard. And unless the AC died, it is plenty cool.