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Edmonton Nightlife (past and present)

Wot! You mean trickle-down economics is not a thing?!? Money is not showering the young'uns?
True, but compared to almost any other city in Canada, accommodation here is still more affordable so then you would think nightlife would be doing better here.

Also not every club or bar is that expensive. Mainly I feel going out is not as much in fashion for the current younger generation as it used to be.
 
True, but compared to almost any other city in Canada, accommodation here is still more affordable so then you would think nightlife would be doing better here.

Also not every club or bar is that expensive. Mainly I feel going out is not as much in fashion for the current younger generation as it used to be.
You've hit something there. Younger generations are not going out as much, especially Gen X and Alpha (and many younger millenials), not because they can't afford it, but because there's a cultural change happening, which was only exacerbated by COVID. I will sometimes spend more money having people over my place than I would if I'd gone out to a bar or a club, but I would much rather hang out with my friends at home (or at their homes) than go out, and this has become somewhat of a trend.
 
I blame smart phone use. It's so much easier to doom scroll for your dopamine fix than go out and build experiences and socialize. I think there's going to be increasing amount of research and concern about what is an acceptable amount of smart phone use for children and young adults.

Flip side I think young people are increasingly interested in healthy lifestyles, getting drunk might not be part of that equation.
 
I blame smart phone use. It's so much easier to doom scroll for your dopamine fix than go out and build experiences and socialize. I think there's going to be increasing amount of research and concern about what is an acceptable amount of smart phone use for children and young adults.

Flip side I think young people are increasingly interested in healthy lifestyles, getting drunk might not be part of that equation.
I'll speak for myself and my circle (including older millennial friends with teenage/young adult kids, such as my partner, and some younger millennials), I feel it has a lot more to do with how their social interactions come about, as well as what you pointed out regarding the interest in healthy lifestyles.

My partner's kids are 15 and 16, respectively, and they do get a lot of screentime, but mostly playing online with friends than doomscrolling on social media, and they'll still go out of their way to have friends come over, or go to friends' homes to hang out and play stuff in person every week.

Me, my partner and our small-ish group of friends, all ranging from 30 to 45, would rather a road trip or a night in with friends for board games and homemade meals than going out (and have been so since our mid to late 20s). In this group we have two couples with kids in their 20s, and sometimes they'll come hang out with us instead of going out partying, or they'll take the days their parents are hanging out at someone else's place to have friends over, and none of the kids drink (they will partake in the occasional cannabis, however)

Smartphone and social media are, indeed, an issue to be addressed, but I feel like there is something much bigger afoot here than that being the responsible for the decline in alcohol consumption and bar/club culture in general.
 
Part of the problem that psychologists and sociologists seem to agree on is that the smart-phone gen is ill equipped to socialize in public; they've substituted the real experience of meeting people by chance with internet dating, texting and finding their "joy" in online games and challenges. Is it hurting their brains and causing personality disorders -- seems to be trending in that direction. One thing that is quite obvious -- it has turned the retail world upside down.
 
Part of the problem that psychologists and sociologists seem to agree on is that the smart-phone gen is ill equipped to socialize in public; they've substituted the real experience of meeting people by chance with internet dating, texting and finding their "joy" in online games and challenges. Is it hurting their brains and causing personality disorders -- seems to be trending in that direction. One thing that is quite obvious -- it has turned the retail world upside down.
To some degree, everyone regardless of generation, finds comfort in continuing the way they are used to doing things and difficulty in doing things differently . So for the generation that is used to interacting with others online or electronically having to interact with strangers IRL may be difficult or cause anxiety, which probably also leads to avoidance.

Also previous generations didn't have any other choice but to go out and physically meet people, so most of us had to over come whatever difficulties or anxieties we had related to this. Probably for some of us, that was so far in the past we have almost forgotten what it was like.
 

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