Downtown Vancouver Nightlife Changing, Hopefully for the Better

Obviously, the party scene on Granville Street appears to be working. About eight months ago, Vancouver was made aware that VPD needed money to pay overtime to police assigned to the bar crowd along Granville Street, where bars and clubs are being concentrated.

However, it appears that a lot has changed over the past 3 years in Gastown with the Purple Onion closing and the Brothers restaurant leaving. Yet the last bastion of unruliness, the Sonar, is still open, only to kick out drunk patrons when all bars close at 3AM. Unfortunately, it will probably take more gentification of the area to pressure the Sonar into closing its doors for good.

Because the Sonar is not part of the Granville bar watch, and its bouncers not obligated to pat down patrons for weapons, it's only safe for dancing by yourself while getting very drunk.

Even so, gentrification will slowly make Gastown safe for yuppies, provided they party on Granville and only quietly drink and eat at the Chill Winston Restaurant in Victory Square, which has been in business for a year.

What really bothers me is that Chill Winston appears to allow people to get throughly inebriated without eating. When I was out working at the stage at the confluence of Water, Alexander, Powell and Carrall, I spotted one gentleman who plopped down and drank a lot of ale over 3 hours, only to be rendered inebriated. This almost violates the BC Liquor Control Act.