I don't really have any ideas, but I want to warn you, you might be about to get into a fight you can't win. The town is probably so picturesque as the result of tradition and liberal application of ordinances. Don't let that discourage you, I'm just saying to keep that in mind when making plans.
this post was submitted on 03 Sep 2024
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Asklemmy
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Good to know, maybe I can... I dunno, start by going to a city hall meeting? I think I have some business casual wear I can throw on to be taken a little more seriously
The greater good
Three words:
Bizarre public art!
Let me know when your karaoke/trivia night is?
Also, welcome to Ottawa.
Oh man if you OP is trying to make Ottawa fun they can just forget about it. I lived there for over 10 years and Iβm convinced the city doesnβt want to improve or be more fun. I left that place.
Naw, screw that - we need more people trying to make this place fun. If by some chance it is Ottawa, I'm sure they'd find receptive folks at The Dom/House of Targ/Arts Court/The Mayfair/Rainbow/AskAPunk/Tuesday Club/PROBE/One of the festival committees (except poutine and rib)/Spectrasonic/Awesome Ottawa/Canada Council for the Arts/White Rabbit/SPAO/One of the Zine collectives/Gladstone Theatre/Ottawa Little Theatre/Brass Monkey, for some reason/T's Pub/Swizzles/Enriched Bread/Absolute Comedy/Cafe Dekcuf/that one house in Barrhaven (iykyk)/CKCU/CHUM/probably quite a few others I'm not aware of. Heck, you could bug the Night Mayor, what exactly is he up to these days?
It all really comes down to what you consider fun. Are you going to have the same degree of options as you would in Montreal and Toronto? No. But if you want fun, there's things to do, places to check out, people to meet and a not-insignificant number of folks who want more of these.
What up, fellow Ottawan?
Trying to dive into the local music scene was my approach - mostly because I suck at trivia.
Walk around in a bigfoot costume at night.
I live in a small city of like 33k, and basically, why is it a snooze fest? Because the population is mostly 9-5 and with families or older people. There is stuff to do, but it isn't centered around the 20 somethings. That kind of thing is for the bigger cities or college towns.
I can tell ya that for someone like myself, the bar scene doesn't fit who I am today. It fit me back in my 20s, but that's because I wasn't super healthy, mentally. Something to think about
If you can manage to get some space somewhere or get people to contribute space, you could have artists in residence. Often artists want to get away and just have a chill place to focus for while, like a week. They can show what they made in a small personal exposition.
Do you feel making friends is hard because your lifestyle is not common there? I can't quite tell what you're saying OP.
Off the top of my head:
- Start researching your local ordinances and bylaws. Like someone mentioned here, there might be a reason your town dies after 2200.
- Think about the kind of things you want to see in terms of nightlife. Does that mean live music? Block parties? Techno night at the clurb? Kink stuff (seriously)? Theatrical performances? Hash and coffee socials (sort of a joke, but thinking through the logistics of such a thing has been my daydream du jour recently)? Etc.
- Find others who would be interested in the kind of stuff you'd like for nightlife activities. Start talking $ and logistics - are there any grants you could try and apply for? Fundraising activities? Where are you going to do this stuff? What do you need in terms of insurance? Do you need to address any pesky bylaws, and can start working with your local government to try and tackle that? And so on.
- Make a plan and act.
The big starting point is really just defining one or two things you want to see, and working to get to the point where you see them. In the course of this you might be surprised by what you find (someone mentioned good ol' Ottawa, ON as an image of the place you're describing - but there's actually a decent amount of stuff, both above- and underground, you can find when you start poking around).
I know a dude who moved to the town I live in. He couldn't find a place where people like him hang out. So he created one. It grew into a bar. A lot of people loved that place. He just recently closed it after 13 years.
A club what are your interests? Create a club based around something you're interested in.
How close are these surrounding towns? What's the population, particularly for the demographics you would appeal to?
Often, it's not worthwhile to bring your favorite culture to your home. Just go to the culture where it already exists. Often, these quiet, boring places are populated by people that WANT to live in a place that's quiet and boring. It doesn't make much sense for anyone to move there if they don't.
Sounds ultra white. Make a bunch of not white friends and bring them there. That'll make things pretty interesting