If I do, it’s at a restaurant that serves beer, not a bar.
The bar scene in Collegetown isn’t what it used to be, partly due to social networking (before Facebook, bars were convenient places for groups of friends to gather at some prearranged time, serving as jumping-off points for a night of party hopping), and partly due to rising rents and redevelopment. A few institutions closed to make way for new apartment buildings.
In the rest of Ithaca, especially downtown, the bar scene is thriving. The majority of busy townie bars are ancillary to (increasingly upscale) restaurants, while many others are popular live music venues. There’s still a fair number of traditional watering holes, but they’re a small minority.
The old-school college dive seems to be a dying breed, but that doesn’t mean bars in general are some kind of threatened species.
I don’t get this distinction. Some people act like a “bar” is some horrible, sketchy place where gangsters hang out or something.
Every bar I hang out in, including the dive ones, serves food of some sort.
My favorite places to grab something to eat is at a bar, in general. My wife and I are meant for each other, as we both love to sit at the bar itself and eat there rather than get a table. 
That said, there’s still a few bars we go to that have nothing beyond peanuts or popcorn available, including our neighborhood bar.
I’m 26, and while my group of friends consists of nerds who don’t like to go to bars, my coworkers and acquaintances still go frequently. Of course, the white collar office yuppies go to a different type of bar than the sketchy are-they-on-drugs? people and the university kids, but going out to drink is still pretty popular.
The drinking age being 19 here probably contributes to that though 
Amen. Also, the bar is much better than a table if you’re on the road and forced to eat alone.
I think whoever said social media and technology has prevented 20 somethings from socializing the way other generations has is right on target. I am on a sports team made up of guys in their 20s, 30s, and 40s. Almost with fail, on my team and the other teams, the guys in their 20s are awkward and socially immature off the field and at practice. Now if we were going to someone’s mom’s house to play Grand Theft Auto or something maybe they’d be more in their element then.
But that’s a scary bar!!! :eek:
By “on the road” I meant “travelling for work”. Decent bars in restaurants, not truck stops.
Upon review, I see where that sounded like I frequent sketchy road houses.
You can’t understand the distinction between “Bar… that also serves food” and “Restaurant… that serves drinks from a bar”?
I didn’t say anything about sketchy gangsters, it’s just that I (and many others) consider them two kinds of establishments.
I didn’t go to bars in undergrad ~10 years ago. We had plentiful free or cheap alcohol on campus, and no bars within walking distance. I started going occasionally afterward. In fact, I’m in a quiet bar in DC right now. By myself, though.
Eh, give 'em 10 to 20 years…
I can see the distinction that is being made, but its not one I would make on my own. For example, I’d say I go to the bar at least once a week, and what I mean is I sit at the bar in my favorite Thai restaurant and a few beers with my meal. There are people around me some just drinking, some eating some doing both. I don’t consider that any different than if a group of friends was with me and we sat at a table instead of the bar and spent 3 hours eating and having drinks.
See, I would see the difference in that. “Going to the bar” means a specific type of place to me (no assigned seating, the bar is the main attraction of the place, some type of entertainment like darts or pool or video games) versus “going to a restaurant” (assigned seating, the bar area is small, no extras).
I don’t go to bars myself (don’t personally enjoy drinking, for one) but the bars* near my college campus are absolutely packed with students on any given night of the week. When I lived in Tempe, the bar my friend worked at was always packed too – at least it was when I picked him up from work on occasion, but I admit that I don’t know the age demographic of that particular bar.
So I’m going to go with “young people still go to bars.”
- I’m not clear on the distinct difference between “pub”, “bar”, and so on, a lot of the “bars” I mentioned are “pubs” or something else. but I figure that’s close enough-ish.
At UChicago I was friends with a bunch of dorks and we all frequented the bars regularly. Mind you, there are no “nice” bars near campus. The one we went to most often was called Jimmy’s (although the sign outside said Woodlawn Tap) and it was definitely a dive, but we developed a certain affection for it. I’m sure its business was helped by the fact that there were no real alternaties nearby.
With the constant increases in “Sin” taxes on alcohol, (Beer $2.50 per bottle?), and the police circling the pub like eagles eying leaving cars like rabbits, I’ve quit frequenting the bar scene. Yes, cabs are always available, but that just adds to the expense of an expensive evening.
(Kinda miss them though…)
This.
As a professional musician who worked (and played) in bars for most of my younger years, I’m firmly convinced these reasons have definitely decreased bar business and potential customers’ willingness to visit them. I can’t possibly express how depressing this is to me. It’s like my favorite swimming hole now has sharks… I can swim if I want to, but I’ll have to buy and wear a very expensive yellow shark-proof suit to get out alive or take my chances… So, I don’t swim anymore… 