Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

ch-scene - Re: smoking-in-bars survey at NewRaleigh

ch-scene AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: RTP-area local music and culture

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: James Hepler <hepstyle AT gmail.com>
  • To: RTP-area local music and culture <ch-scene AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: smoking-in-bars survey at NewRaleigh
  • Date: Tue, 10 Mar 2009 12:02:00 -0400

My only real qualn with smoking bans is that really, an establishment should
be able to appeal to smokers if it wants to. I can live with an all-out
ban, but what I would like to see is a way out for bars who want to allow
smoking. I mean, maybe a special license or tax for a bar to remain smoker
friendly, because in a town where almost every establishment is smoke free,
a few smoker speakeasies would be super lucrative, and there is certainly no
law that says you HAVE to go into a smoky bar if you don't smoke.

Given that there are increasing numbers of smoke free options, doesn't it
seem somewhat unfair to force the hands of businesses? Is there not a
decidedly selfish aspect of this idea?

On Tue, Mar 10, 2009 at 11:44 AM, Nathaniel Florin <npflorin AT gmail.com>wrote:

> I was living in Cambridge when smoking bans were put into effect in
> Boston and eventually the surrounding areas. There were studies done
> afterwards that suggested that restaurant revenues went up by something
> like 9 or 10%, while alcohol sales stayed more or less flat (both in a
> then-growing local economy). However, four of my five favorite bars all
> rapidly went from thriving to defunct (two later reopened with the same
> name but in somewhat different forms). There's probably a profile to be
> drawn of the sort of place that died, but other than to say that all of
> the casualties I knew were neighborhood-based, it's easier to say that
> places that did fine seemed to be ones with some combination of young
> crowds, real restaurants, shows, DJs, dancing, and sports on TV.
>
> The point is that I think one can argue that a ban will have little or
> no net effect, but not that it will have no effect.
>
> Nate
>
>
> -- ch-scene: the list that mirrors alt.music.chapel-hill --
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/ch-scene
>



--
Der Weg ist das Ziel




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page