The loss of the Neighborhood Pub

[acroyear]

On the loss of the local neighborhood tavern:

One of the main things I see that's changed everything is the Car.

In the old days, one walked to the neighborhood tavern, and (drunk or not) walked home. The neighborhood tavern/pub was part of the community, and the health (trans: noise and good vibes) of the pub reflected the health of the community. Today, however, the neighborhood tavern (public house in the UK) is a dying breed, mostly because people simply don't live near the old ones anymore, and many simply don't want to. Nobody lives within walking distance of their neighborhood pub anymore.

And enough people are vocal enough to not want a new neighborhood tavern near their suburbs, because they think (or at least act) like it can bring in some "subursive influence" on their children. [This leads me to another major problem with the level of denial America has with its absolutist (and i don't mean the vodka) policies -- if you aren't allowed to let your children drink under supervision and safety, you are guarenteeing that they'll drink without responsibility when they are without supervision].

Part of choosing where to drink is usually "can I park anywhere near the place". Then, of course, there's the "ok, who's driving to make sure we can all get home, or do we cut off at the 2-drink safe-limit" (hence the "we don't drink as much" as previous generations factor). It may be a loss of culture, but when its loss of culture v. loss of lives due to DUI, well, there's no contest.

The alternative of the taxi is simply too expensive, and turns the regular tavern visit into something that has to be budgetted and planned, an occasion that "deserves better" than the old-school blue-collar only-has-bud-on-draught locale...thus, the rise of the yuppie-joints like "wine gardens" and "microbreweries" that have great drinks, but all the character of a school building or a warehouse [and thus have to fall back on large food menus to keep customers in when the lack of character would make them want to leave within an hour].

God bless the Wharf Rat, great (original) beer and still retains a lot of old-school tavern character...well, to me anyways...

[update, second thoughts]

At least its not, say, San Francisco, where the prevailing approach from "family people" is to destroy the culture intentionally, more than just let it die its slow death. In SF, you can not even contemplate opening a new pub/tavern/bar/club/whatever. You can only buy an existing one to keep it alive, and even then you'll get a tremendous amount of resistence from a very vocal minority against any form of public drinking. Go check out the archives of The DNA Lounge.

Comments

[thatliardiego.livejournal.com]

You have to remember, this is still Baltimore, where in many neighborhoods, you don't need a car for many things. if you live in West Baltimore, Charles Village, Canton, Fells Point, Federal Hill, Bolton Hill, Highlandtown, Butcher's Hill -- I can go on -- you can still walk for damn near everything, The car is necessary to get to the job outside the Beltway or into the suburbs where the malls are.

I moved to Federal Hill because I wanted somewhere where I could walk, as if I lived in Manhattan.

I have two of the newest, hottest restaurants in town -- Soigne and The Bicycle -- within four blocks of my house.

Supermarket? Across the neighborhood park and three blocks. Same with gym, dry cleaners, Blockbuster, pharmacy, Radio Shack and three fast food joints.

Ballpark? Fifteen mintures walk. Football stadium? Ten.

It's a fact that people are drinking less. But also the culture of the neighborhood tavern is going, mostly because the demographic has changed. But this town still has quite a lot of them. As one of my bosses once joked about Baltimore, it's the city where, on any intersection, you're likely to find on the four respective corners, "two bars, a sandwich shop and a church."

[javasaurus.livejournal.com]

I must confess that I am not sure what makes a tavern a tavern, a pub a pub, and what differentiates them from the enormous slew of sports bars and TGIFs that are everywhere.