It’s an old downtown conundrum: How do you let the nightlife industry thrive without turning your community into Las Vegas?
In Rhode Island, it’s always been an issue. You can’t easily get into the capital city, Providence, without driving past strip clubs and bars with bright-colored signs and flashing symbols. It’s not exactly a sight every mother wants her child seeing out the backseat window.
Then, after dark, more problems arise. These clubs stay open, with the music thumping, until 2 a.m., at which point they dump their noisy and somewhat intoxicated clientele onto the surrounding streets. Many cities respond by issuing more regulations, earlier closing times, or other efforts to crack down on the noise and the crowds.
Dylan Conley thinks the solution for Providence is something quite different. As reported by the Providence Journal, Conley, chairman of the Providence License Board, has proposed a 24-hour “night club district.”
“Instead of cracking down on clubs that are open until 2 a.m.,” the Journal reported, “and making them close earlier, establishments in the nightclub district … could serve alcohol and offer entertainment 24 hours a day.”
Conley said, “A nightclub district is your long-term, serious solution. It would be an economic driver while taking nuisances out of the neighborhoods.”
Critics aren’t so enthused. They see this as an attempt to shove the ugly parts of the city under the rug and force it into their disadvantaged communities.
If Conley gets his way, and if it is deemed a success, it could change the shape — and the sound — of American cities.
—By Brad Polumbo
