Is everything really rainbows and unicorns?
I wrote last week of attending the reunion of my high school baseball team, and while we had a blast, I was pretty stunned at how quiet the east side of the riverfront was on a Friday night. After our fete at the school, we went to a downtown bar to continue our storytelling. While I chose a place that would allow us plenty of room and not noise we couldn’t talk over, I didn’t expect we’d have not only the bar, but the whole place and all of Riverfront Parkway to ourselves.
And the one bartender who was kind enough to wait on us in both senses of the word.
It has already been noted that it seems that the increase in activity on the Southside has come at the expense of the riverfront and Jack’s Alley parts of town. But just a few days after my riverfront experience, I spoke with several managers of another popular restaurant/bar on Main Street who were also dealing with shrinking crowds, irregular and hard-to-predict consumer patterns. I’m hearing similar reports from several downtown hoteliers, who are dealing with far more empty rooms than usual.
It is January, and things ebb and flow in the hotel/ entertainment worlds. But this is worth noting and worth watching. It’s not doom and gloom yet. There are several theories as to why, of course. Everything from time of year, saturated markets, changes in people’s tastes, a shift to the Southside for nighttime entertainment to “Who knows?” are some of the theories being thrown around. Some also point out that while we are seeing an increase in the number, and quality, of restaurants, bars, venues and craft beer places, we aren’t really seeing an increase in residents. A shift in location, maybe, but not a big increase. In some cases, where people are filling up new apartment complexes downtown, they aren’t necessarily supporting the restaurants and bars that are literally right out their front doors in the numbers some had hoped. ›
For years, I’ve had a couple of blind spots when it comes to writing stories. I know, for instance, that my brain types “quitar” instead of “guitar,” and I almost always type “teh” instead of “the.” Autocorrect now fixes the latter, and because I know to watch out for the former, I usually catch it before it goes to print.
But for some reason of late, I am determined to rename “Rick” Williams, who I have known well for 35 years, to “Keith.” I’ve mistakenly called him that twice now in previewing Overland Express shows. They will play Friday night at Songbirds.