Post: #1

I have never been to California, but SD was one of my picks before I tried Tampa. I have heard of a few members on the board saying it sucks because of bars closing at 1:30 a.m. Looks like this state senator wants to end that and make it so bars will be able to serve alcohol until 4 a.m. if the localities choose to do so. I don't see why the state wouldn't do it with their budget woes, but CA is ass backwards when it comes to being restrictive... at least from a person watching the state's moves from afar. I wonder if it will gain any traction.

Quote:Extended alcohol service proposed in Calif.
Wyatt Buchanan
Published 5:22 pm, Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Sacramento --

Restaurants, bars and nightclubs in California would be able to serve alcohol for two additional hours - until 4 a.m. - under a bill that has been proposed at the Capitol.

The measure, SB635 by state Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, would allow cities and counties to petition state alcohol regulators to receive permission for the extended service and Leno said the bill would help California cities compete for tourism dollars that are lost to other cities that serve alcohol past 2 a.m.

"The bill offers cities an opportunity to create jobs, expand business and increase tax revenue," Leno said. "It imposes nothing on anybody; it merely authorizes the opportunity."

Leno said that he expects that, if the bill becomes law, cities like San Francisco would have a limited number of establishments that would be part of the extended service, including nightclubs, restaurants or other entertainment venues that already stay open past 2 a.m.

"This is not about your corner bar or the pub in the neighborhood," he said.

Under the proposal, city or county officials would make a request to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control for extended service and that request would include the scope of establishments that would be covered. The state department would make the final decision on whether to grant the request.

The proposal is likely to raise concerns about bar patrons driving after drinking. Leno noted that many other cities serve alcohol until 4 a.m. and he said he has seen no evidence of increased incidents of alcohol-related traffic deaths in those areas, but he said he expects some opposition to the proposal based on public safety concerns.

Such a change could also affect demand for public transportation service, as more people would probably be taking buses later. BART ends its service about midnight daily, but starts running at 4 a.m. on weekdays. Weekend service begins at 6 a.m. on Saturdays and 8 a.m. on Sundays.

It's not clear how much of an economic boost would be created by allowing two additional hours of alcohol service, but doing so would help to create a new nightlife economy, said Rob Black, executive director of the Golden Gate Restaurant Association in San Francisco.

"I think a lot of people find when they come to San Francisco that it goes to sleep early," Black said. "Our perspective is that it's more of allowing, or creating, an opportunity where restaurants that have bar service would have a much better ability to be economically viable later in the evening."

He said he thinks more high-end restaurants would offer late food service whereas current options for late-night eating consist mostly of fast food.

Jim Lazarus, senior vice president for public policy at the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, said that group is looking at the proposal but has not taken a position. He said a booming population of young people in the city driven by tech companies is creating a demand for late-night options.

"I think it's got to be looked at. People's work habits are different. Their entertainment needs are different," Lazarus said.

At the Tempest, a bar in San Francisco's South of Market district, owner Joey Christensen said late-night service would undoubtedly boost the bar's bottom line.

Christensen said the Tempest gets a late-night rush of people in the service industry coming in for a drink after they get off work and before last call.

"On Friday nights, I'm kicking out 50 people at last call," he said. "For me and for our bar, it would benefit us."

Wyatt Buchanan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: [email protected]

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Exten...z2NYo0a1GY

Post: #2

My official take on this, being well versed in california nightlife....is that this will just cause more drunken fights at the end of the night.

Post: #3

If this happens G will move back West.

Post: #4

That would almost make it worth staying in a state where the top state income tax rate was just bumped to 13.3% and where sales tax is nearly 10% and yet the road are filled with pot holes and cities are so broke that you're getting ticketed the split second your meter runs out (even if the meter maid sees you clearly coming to your car).

Post: #5

Post: #6

(03-14-2013 06:46 PM)Menace Wrote:  If this happens G will move back West.

Story of my life.

The minute I leave somewhere, they start implementing all the changes I have talked about for years.

But no, I would never move back. This is just one of about 1000 reasons that place sucks.

I may never set foot in that state again, unless it's to go to The Wildcard Gym. Or maybe eat at Zuni Cafe.

Post: #7

we have 24 hour drinking here in the UK and lets just say it's not a fucking pretty sight

Post: #8

It's easier to have later last-calls when you have subways like NYC.

Post: #9

(03-15-2013 04:17 AM)soup Wrote:  It's easier to have later last-calls when you have subways like NYC.

I bet. Cincinnati's public bus system stops shortly after midnight. Getting home from bars is tricky if you don't drive. One of the neighborhoods people like to drink in, Mount Adams, is a madhouse on Saturday night when the bars let out. Multiple fist fights break out over cabs every Friday and Saturday night.

Post: #10

(03-15-2013 04:11 AM)bojangles Wrote:  we have 24 hour drinking here in the UK and lets just say it's not a fucking pretty sight

There are very few places where that's actually the case though. Most councils block all applications for 24 hour licenses.

Post: #11

I would think cab companies and other kids of private transportation would flourish in cities that don't have public trans that runs all night, or that enterprising private citizens would be out hustling in the wee hours taking people home. Even though some kind of trans is running 24 hours in NYC, in the outer boroughs there are licensed vans that run over night, and guys at the subway stops way out here in Queens with their own cars running people home because the buses are only one an hour.

Post: #12

Not sure if the public transport there would be ideal for bars to be open until 4:00 AM. If they implement this it's probably going to be a shitshow for a year until everything adapts to it. If there's any rooshers in Cali it might be not be a bad idea to fix up a party bus and get gigs to drive drunk people to different bars late into the night. I knew a guy in Minneapolis doing something similar and he made pretty decent money on (mostly) bachelorette parties. He looked just like the huge black dude out of "Helpful Bus" too.

Post: #13

(03-15-2013 01:35 PM)Timoteo Wrote:  I would think cab companies and other kids of private transportation would flourish in cities that don't have public trans that runs all night, or that enterprising private citizens would be out hustling in the wee hours taking people home. Even though some kind of trans is running 24 hours in NYC, in the outer boroughs there are licensed vans that run over night, and guys at the subway stops way out here in Queens with their own cars running people home because the buses are only one an hour.

See : Medellin. No public transport after 9 pm. Well, there are some buses from 9 to 1030 but after 9 they randomly decide to go off route or stop for a long time to grab a Burger.

Post: #14

The MUNI runs all night in SF.