We're confused. The recent hullabaloo about making Boston hipper apparently has nothing to do with nightclubs and booze and Night Owl service and everything to do with culture. The young folks want cultural offerings. They want museums and university lectures and libraries and a world-class symphony and crunchy public programs like bike-shares ... and other things Boston and the surrounding area already offer. The Globe's Christopher Muther visited with driving members of the Future Boston Alliance, the new group that caused such a stir last month when it said that Mayor Menino was an old fuddy-duddy who keeps kids' Frisbees when they land on his lawn and that his city was losing its young and its hip.
The group only muddied its message, though, emphasizing that Boston already has a rather vibrant cultural scene, just ... you know: "There’s a ton of things for college kids. There’s great things for empty nesters. But there’s really nothing for younger professionals or younger families. It’s not that we don’t have anything, it’s that sometimes it just feels that way."
That was Alliance director Malia Lazu. Other Alliance members then returned again and again to nightclubs and booze and Night Owl service (and none really acknowledged the fact that Old Man Menino's been bulldozing and remapping whole swathes of the city's streetscape and psyche to make it more hospitable to tech and the techies who tech):
According to Ace Gershfield, 32, president of 6one7 Productions, early closing times are often a shock to out-of-towners and international clients who generally don’t start their evening until midnight or 12:30 a.m. But he says the lack of 18-plus club nights sets a tone and a reputation for the city which sticks with college students here. "There’s a huge population of college kids who can’t get into clubs," he says. "And then they face early closing times when they finally can. I think it all has an effect on where they end up. I know I’ve lost a lot of really talented friends to other cities." We throw up our hands at this point. Boston gained more people between 25 and 30 in the last decade than San Francisco (where the bars also close at 2). One guy did suggest more street fairs, like the kind he saw when he was living in Brooklyn. So there's that.
· Can Boston Get Hip? [Globe]
· Is Boston Too Boring For the Young and Hip? Like, Duh [Curbed Boston]
· How to Talk About the Innovation District [Curbed Boston]
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