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Becoming a "24-hour city"


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It seems like most 24 hour cities (or ones closer to being 24 hour ctiies) are ones which have a lot of tourism. Working 2nd and 3rd shift simply isn't a part of our culture unless we're on vacation. I'm thinking cities are probably not thriving because they have places open late, but that cities are thriving from tourism (Las vegas) and being open 24/7 is just part of that due to the inherent excitement of tourist destinations. Also, the larger a city is, the more people a 24 hour/late night spot has to draw from.

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This is my first post in this thread so, I pray I don't repeat anything.

But, I've noticed in my visits to cities in the South that there are pockets of virtually every city that never seem to rest. Though a city like Birmingham wouldn't at all be considered a 24 hour city, there are districts and clubs in downtown that are always open and always seem to have a gathering of some size around them. The same goes for other cities Birmingham's size in the South.

I think that to be 24 hour city, you just have to have a large population. Also, a large tourist base, and a great downtown. Cause, you can't count a Waffle House on the edge of the suburbs in this evaluation. But, entertainment districts and famous streets are always good. Beale Street in Memphis and Bourbon Street in New Orleans are great examples of these districts. The party rocks on till all hours.

Cities have to look into their history, find something worth staying up all night for, exhibit it and go to it. Either that or have a HUGE population.

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There are a number of features of cities that seem to be on the "ingredient list" for 24-hour areas. The most important - many of which have been ratified by contributors to this thread - are:

  1. Attractive residential neighborhoods close to the central business district. People love convenience.

  2. Low crime. Nothing kills the urge to "make a night of it" more than fear.

  3. Lots of entertainment options.

  4. Good shopping/restaurants - lots of choices, and not just the same stores as at the Mall.

  5. Mass transit - and the later the hours of service, the better.

  6. Great city services - clean sidewalks; good lighting; visible but not intrusive policing.

  7. Lots of 'creative class' types - artists and musicians, but also the whole array of 'knowledge professions' (that includes writers and geeks!) --- a university really helps with this.

  8. Generally speaking, demographics that emphasize two items that often don't go together: youth, and cash.

  9. And --- here are a couple of controversial ones - population diversity (race, sexual orientation, lots of immigrants), and,

  10. Political/economic/social conditions that make it hard to put up a lot of new buildings that rapidly change the character of the area.

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There are a number of features of cities that seem to be on the "ingredient list" for 24-hour areas. The most important - many of which have been ratified by contributors to this thread - are:

  1. Attractive residential neighborhoods close to the central business district. People love convenience.

  2. Low crime. Nothing kills the urge to "make a night of it" more than fear.

  3. Lots of entertainment options.

  4. Good shopping/restaurants - lots of choices, and not just the same stores as at the Mall.

  5. Mass transit - and the later the hours of service, the better.

  6. Great city services - clean sidewalks; good lighting; visible but not intrusive policing.

  7. Lots of 'creative class' types - artists and musicians, but also the whole array of 'knowledge professions' (that includes writers and geeks!) --- a university really helps with this.

  8. Generally speaking, demographics that emphasize two items that often don't go together: youth, and cash.

  9. And --- here are a couple of controversial ones - population diversity (race, sexual orientation, lots of immigrants), and,

  10. Political/economic/social conditions that make it hard to put up a lot of new buildings that rapidly change the character of the area.

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Charlotte has a long way to go. However, its certainly moving in that direction. The issue that most people are not prepared to talk about is the Bible-belt rhetoric and mind0set of those who run Charlotte. People here pretend it does not exist but it dampens the explosion of night activities i.e., bars, night clubs and strip clubs. When the aforementioned institutions of a "treu 24-hour city" thrive in Charlotte then so will teh restaurants, fast food joints, diners, 24-hour drug stores etc, opo up.

Problem in, on Sunday morning more than 2/3 of Charlotte will be listening to a pastor or preach saying all the above is a "sin".

Yes - Charlotte has a long way to go.

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I guess I still would like to know what exactly a 24 hour city really adds, besides the ability to go out drinking at 3:00 am in the morning? Unless you have the money to afford to not have to work, it's not like you are going to be able to stay up that late anyhow. I guess I am not convinced that the open entertainment is really such a big issue to strive for.
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A few southern cities have pretty good nightlife. Their main problem is 'Sunday-life'. On Sunday, a lot of businesses have shorter hours (or are closed for the day). Even in Chapel Hill, a pretty vibrant college town ordinarily, I couldn't find anywhere to eat after 11:00 Sunday (I know someone's going to say "there are tons of places, you should've gone HERE"). Some holidays amplify this effect.

So to the previous comment that Christians interfere with nightlife, I would say that they do, quite a bit actually.

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This seems like a rather inane question to me personally. The "24 hour city" label probably originated as a marketing or lobbying idea by some city official looking to push some pet projects. There are few 24-hour places in this world that could be emulated, and more importantly, few cities can do anything to reach that level (and probably should expend their efforts elsewhere).

NYC can be quieter than some people would expect. Chicago, also tends to quiet down at night. I think most cities have their restaurants and other establishments scattered about that are open late and early into the morning. Do you really want entire neighborhoods staying active and noisy at 6 am? What is so admirable about drunken punks stumbling through the streets at 7 am?

"Boise, Idaho! 24-Hour City. Where the Booze Flows All Day and The Easy Girls Don't Stop Partying!"

Contrary to what was said above, in DC, there are several late night places scattered about: cheap places such as Ben's Chili Bowl, Alberto's, and Amsterdam Falafel are open until 3 or 4 am; real sit-down restaurants such as Circa, Clyde's, Open City, Sette, and Meze are open until 2 or 3; and Afterwords and The Diner, are open 24 hrs. As for bars/clubs, Five and Apex are open until 4-5. A lot of the late late night places seem to have closed recently, no? The periodic Mass party at Club 5 used to start around 6am on Sunday, but I think it was stopped because of too much drug use...

24-hour grocery stores in the city. Now, that's a useful topic for discussion!

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I think there are different things going on, and not much agreement to what belongs in what category, and what is desirable and what is not.

By 24 hour city, do we mean -

a) a city that has activity going on all day and through the night, never shutting down?

b) a city that has services available around the clock (markets, convenience stores, diners)?

c) a city that has both workday activity as well as evening and weekend activity?

d) a city that has residents living right in the downtown core?

Of course, each and every one is dependent upon others. But the question is, which are we talking about, and which is the one we want to achieve?

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Other than NYC, Vegas is most definitely is a 24H city. Chicago quiets down during the wee hours, but there are restaurants open throughout the city as well as public transportation. The Blue and Red line trains as well as some bus routes run 24/7.

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  • 4 weeks later...
...and Muslims interfere with National Security, quite a bit actually...

That was a rather insulting, and broad-sweeping comment to make (not to mention untrue). Christians don't interefere with nightlife, so much as they aren't as inclined to take part in it. "Interfering" would be if they preached outside bars/clubs, picketed outside venues, littered the streets with brochures, held choir practice on street-corners at 11:30 Saturday nite, etc.

And why is it so horrible for people to feel that observing a day of rest is a good thing?

*Sorry to continue this off-topic, but I felt I had to play defense. ^_^ Game on...

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  • 2 weeks later...

I think these are the defining "24-hour city" characteristics:

1) PEOPLE--High enough population to sustain activity 24 hours a day.

2) TRANSPORTATION--A 24 hour bus, subway, and rail system. People from the area--suburbs, city, and tourists--must be able to go where they want, at any time of the day.

3) ACCESSIBILITY--People in the city must be able to do what they want, when they have to do it. This includes working, entertainment, dining, shopping, errands, travelling, dog-walking, etc. Not just partying, gambling, drinking, and dining late. A TRUE 24 hour city will have enough of an infrastructure to support all "daylight tasks" for anyone looking to do anything, just at night.

The only city that TRULY supports these functions in the US is New York City. There may be a couple of Chicago neighborhoods, some touristy areas of Las Vegas and New Orleans, and maybe some areas of Los Angeles to support these 24-7 activities. Even San Fran may fit the bill in some areas. But no city--on the whole--can lay claim to being a 24/7 city in the US. The only city that truly conforms to being able to support 24/7 activity is NYC. No other US cities has the population or infrastructure or demand.

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I haven't heard the term "24-hour city" nearly as much as "24-hour Downtown". In that case it is a term used by supporters of downtown revitalization to articulate a downtown that has or should have activity beyond the 9-5 working hours. Few people rarely ever actually mean 24 continuous hours of activity, but it sounds better than "15 hour downtown". The primarily elements of such a downtown, as many have pointed out earlier in this thread, would be entertainment uses (restaurants, bars, theaters, cinemas, cafes) and residential units. Entertainment draws downtown residents, and downtown residents support the retail businesses.

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  • 3 weeks later...

The term itself is a misnomer.

You read it and it makes you think that people have to be awake 24hours a day like they are in Vegas or NYC.

The goal is actually just for there to be people in the downtonw 24/7 awake or asleep.

The way that planners or more accurately electorate hopefulls, and city boosters use the phrase is to describe a CBD with work, play and sleep happening.

During much of the 80s and early 90s there was an office boom, and this boom sterilized downtowns. tore down neighborhoods, and even apartment buildings to build class A office space. Sadly this nearly destroyed many cities as it gave the middle class and wealthy workers in those offices nothing to do after work and no reason to stick around when they had to get on the highway in order to get home by a reasonable hour. With people living near where they work, there is a great deal more life and living going on after 6-7PM

If a city is looking to be a 24hour city they are looking to lure more residents to downtown. This is the phrase of choice when promoting a potential condo tower or apartment building.

A 24 hour city is one that has people in the CBD 24 hours a day. Ideally there would be a fair precentage up and awake taking advantage of city services, but these things come with downtown resturants and night life. downtown resturants and night life come with downtown residents. Tourism does not really play a strong role in making a city truely alive. Las Vegas is a great party town, but the CBD is actually dead. I think the only offices are city hall, courtrooms, a wells fargo building etc. The strip is a tourist strip, and there are actually very few office workers, or local resturants. The strip is suburban in its design. You have to drive to each establishment, they are widely spaced, and they form a line not a bunching of density like typical downtowns. Las vegas is really a unique situation. New Orleans is a true 24hour city. Mainly this is due to historical preservation that has kept many buildings intact limiting the invasion of the automobile.

Most Cities looking for this urban buzz word are also promoting their downtown cultural attractions. Museums and the like.

The goal is really to take an Office city and turn it into a living city. Pedestrian friendly is another term often used in conjunction with 24hour city.

I live in Hartford, and it was the definition for a 8-10 hour city. With the investment of a few billion dollars over the last 5 years, I would say it is more like a 12 hour city now. There is a slow growth to the downtown population, and a downtown resturant boom.

Give it say another $5 billion, 5-10 years, and another 2-5000 residents, and we may make it to a 18 hour city and thats really all most cities can hope for. Providence Rhode Island would be a great example of a city that has made the transition from office to 24Hr, but they had far less downtown office than Hartford.

One Major City I see furthest from being 24HR would be LA. That city is built in a low density manner. the downtown is a pure commercial center, and I do not know how they could liven it up enough. I suspect an area immediately adjacent to the office towers would be the only chance. possibly based around AEGs huge entertainment district. Or possibly some of the downtown officec could be turned into Condos, but I do not see that happening

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