Death of Clubland (aka: Is Adam Vaughan trying to kill the Club District?)

[urbandreamer]

Walking around the Bay Street tower district this morning during Nuit Blanche an interesting thought struck me: What if the bases of Bay Street office towers became nightclubs at night? That would make this area become crazy busy 24/7! Because so few residents live in the area, no one could complain!

 

[SunriseChampion]

Dont you just love Adam Vaughan in that clip saying this is a very very crazy place to be at 3am, its no way to live and its got to come to an end.

He sounds like me mum.....and is ignored like her as well.

 

[Juan_Lennon416]

If you do not like Adam, then you should encourage Ward 20 (Trinity-Spadina) to vote him out in 2010. If not, you'll have Adam vs the Clubs Part II

 

[BobBob]

Walking around the Bay Street tower district this morning during Nuit Blanche an interesting thought struck me: What if the bases of Bay Street office towers became nightclubs at night? That would make this area become crazy busy 24/7! Because so few residents live in the area, no one could complain!

That might work, except I'm not sure how bank execs' leather shoes would cope with the vomit puddles in the morning.

 

[JasonParis]

Dont you just love Adam Vaughan in that clip saying this is a very very crazy place to be at 3am, its no way to live and its got to come to an end.
I guess this looser hasnt been to many other citys through-out the world.

I'd suspect Adam is well travelled. Besides, so am I and our "Entertainment District" has a pretty darn small town "the bars have let out" feel at 02:30 that I wouldn't want any out-of-towner to see. Perhaps not the best choice of words on Adam's part, but I applaud him in his attempts at diversifying the area nonetheless.

 

[syn]

I'd suspect Adam is well travelled. Besides, so am I and our "Entertainment District" has a pretty darn small town "the bars have let out" feel at 02:30 that I wouldn't want any out-of-towner to see. Perhaps not the best choice of words on Adam's part, but I applaud him in his attempts at diversifying the area nonetheless.

There's an easy solution to that - eliminate last call. There is a huge rush for alcohol leading up to last call, then they basically just kick thousands of clubbers onto the street at once - after many of them have just had a few more drinks.

I also would like to see greater diversity in the club district, but Vaughn's ridiculous stereotypes and over the top comments still don't' sit well with me.

 

[doady]

He sounds like me mum.....and is ignored like her as well.

I agree, he is like an old woman. He should change his name to Adamina.

 

[tkip]

Absolutely....

That last call should be extended.

It should be more than obvious that throwing thousands of drunken people into the streets at the same time is just a policy of not thinking things through. And people have the right to drink and party, contrary to some views and opinions out there.

I'm confident that at some in the future we will see last call extended until later at night but I couldn't predict when this may happen. And Adam Vaughan comes across as someone who is just old and grumpy and somewhat intolerant of others having a good time doing something he doesn't like.

Hoping that reason and balance win out in the end and that the scare tactics with people being terrorized in their condos in the Entertainment District just stop.

 

[MetroMan]

There's an easy solution to that - eliminate last call. There is a huge rush for alcohol leading up to last call, then they basically just kick thousands of clubbers onto the street at once - after many of them have just had a few more drinks.

Exactly. This has been proven to work. It's not even a theory, it's a fact. During TIFF for example, some clubs have 4am last call. I've observed people leaving incrementally between 2:30 to 4:30 so there's no pouring out of mobs into the streets and nobody rushes to the bar to get their last drink just before 2am.

As it stands, I see people order 4 or more drinks (for themselves!) at 2am so they can continue partying late into the night with booze. What ends up happening is people begin leaving at 2 so the guy who just bought 4 drinks downs them quickly because there's nobody left in the club and they want to leave too.

At minimum, raise the last call to 3am. It'll allow an hour for people to leave the clubs at their own pace, reducing the "running of the bulls effect" at 2am and the inevitable confrontations.

I will be pulling all the strings that I've got to ensure Vaughan isn't re-elected. I just hope his opponent has more sane policies.

 

[SunriseChampion]

old woman.

Whoah...your words, not mine.


Last call should most definitely be extended til at least 4.

If you've ever been to a club or underground party that goes til at least four (and many serve til then and beyond) you've seen the trickle effect at work.

Also, personally, I sometimes don't even get to the bar til 1.

 

[MetroMan]

^ In many European cities known for their nightlife, the dancefloor at clubs opens at 2am and closes at 6am. People will sit on the patio having drinks in bars and then hit the clubs after 2.

 

[androiduk]

TORONTO (CBC) - Glitzy nightclubs in Toronto's entertainment district say they have fallen upon hard times this year as low-key party-goers head west to smaller venues.

Circa, Toronto's largest nightclub, has confirmed to CBC News that it is filing for bankruptcy protection. Ari Kulidjian, one of Circa's owners, said the John Street club has had problems with debt since it opened two years ago.

Other spots in the entertainment district bounded by Queen Street West to the north, University Avenue to the east, King Street West to the south and Spadina Avenue to the west also appear to be struggling to attract business.

"From 2008 summertime all the way up to today, the traffic in clubland has been down approximately 20 per cent per year," said Jan Wrobel, the owner of Cabana, a club on the corner of Richmond Street West and Peter Street. "So we're down 40 per cent over the past two years."

Janice Solomon, the executive director of the entertainment district's business improvement area, said people are still partying, albeit elsewhere.

"Possibly some of our larger venues aren't as attractive people are starting to shift back into that small, more intimate lounge environment ,as you can see with some of our neighbourhoods directly to our west," she said.

A clutch of smaller bars, lounges and clubs have popped up around the Ossington and Queen West area in the last couple of years. Owners of those businesses don't appear to be having the same problems as their counterparts in the entertainment district.

"Generally on Fridays and Saturdays, we'll see a lineup form at 11o'clock. And it will stay that way for three hours," said Adam Baguely, who owns Lavak Block on Ossington, near Queen West.

Baguely said smaller bars in the neighbourhood are likely cheaper than larger clubs his bar, for example, doesn't charge an entrance fee or for checking coats.

He also agreed with Solomon's theory that party-goers are looking for a more intimate experience his bar has a maximum capacity of 200 people. Circa, by comparison, can accommodate up to 2,800.

 

[SunriseChampion]

It's too bad about Circa. It's an amazing venue.....it just hasn't been able to get the right things going.

Peter Gatien didn't realise that it wasn't 1991 anymore and was ill-prepared for the realities of Toronto nightlife, it seems.


It was supposed to be a sort of anti-club, anything goes, "nu rave" venue but was quickly swamped by your typical nightclub-going douchebags, probably owing to its amazing design and location and the propensity of clubbers to spread like rats but also because of what was on offer there most of the time. They just couldn't fill it with enough good music and even when they did, the standard clubbers came en masse.

I witnessed its downfall first-hand. It wasn't pretty. I haven't been back in a year.

 

[MetroMan]

It is too bad about CiRCA. I hope it comes out of bankruptcy with a plan to remain open. It's one of the few venues in the Entertainment District that I think deserves to stay in business.

As for Jan Wrobel (Cabana), he has nobody to blame but himself and his ruthless attitude towards his staff, promoters and DJ's who one by one abandoned him. It's no coincidence that his other venue in Niagara Falls closed its doors despite being on a booming party strip.

The Enteratinment District is simply shifting West, according to ward boundries. East of Spadina, Vaughan's ward is losing clubs, West of it, Pantalone's is gaining new ones.

Clubs that will be closed in 2010: Home, Cabana, Embassy, and unfortunately: CiRCA. I speculate that others such as BLVD Room, Aurum/XS will close as well. This will leave very few clubs in the "Entertainment District", most of which are approaching the chopping block anyway. Vaughan's plan will have been achieved by the end of his term. I wonder if his constituents will appreciate the massive reduction in business property taxes and income taxes in his ward between 2006 and 2010.

People will always party and there will always be investors willing to open clubs and bars to mine their open wallets.

 

[OttoSchloss]

It's too bad about Circa. It's an amazing venue.....it just hasn't been able to get the right things going.

Peter Gatien didn't realise that it wasn't 1991 anymore and was ill-prepared for the realities of Toronto nightlife, it seems.


It was supposed to be a sort of anti-club, anything goes, "nu rave" venue but was quickly swamped by your typical nightclub-going douchebags, probably owing to its amazing design and location and the propensity of clubbers to spread like rats but also because of what was on offer there most of the time. They just couldn't fill it with enough good music and even when they did, the standard clubbers came en masse.

I witnessed its downfall first-hand. It wasn't pretty. I haven't been back in a year.

Any successful club will eventually go 905er or douche. It's inevitable. Only the small venues that really stick to a particular type of music/bands will be able to sustain.

But the expense in running a huge club means they will have to sell out sooner or later.

So the "cool" people just move on to the next thing and leave the Britney remixes to the downtown "tourists".