Students are losing establishments to drink and socialize in Oakland, which follows a broader cultural trend of young people straying from alcohol use.
The impending closure of Hemingway’s Cafe follows the continuing trend of bars in Oakland ceasing operations. The disappearance of third spaces, such as bars, connects to larger shifts in college culture that leave students with fewer spaces for socializing. With fewer bars and a changing drinking culture, some young people are choosing not to drink at all.
Gene Ney, the owner of local bar Gene’s Place for 21 years and business professor at Carlow University, said there used to be 14 to15 bars in South Oakland in the 90s and early 2000s. Ney said keeping a bar open in Oakland has been difficult since the loss of Pitt’s on-campus football stadium in 1999…