I have just returned to Sydney after 5 years in SF. I grew up and worked in the neighborhoods most affected by the lockout-laws, so have experienced the before and after. I've seen the parties, I've seen the punch-ups, I've seen the drug overdoses and the drag queens. The city I remembered had a vibrant culture and a heady mixture of people that comes with any cosmopolitain city around the world. It wasn't perfect, but it was fun.
Coming back, I have found the mood here to be stifling, and am astonished by how dead the city/inner-east has become - it's a total ghost-town after hours. I complained from afar when I heard Hugo's had shut down (I remember when Sneaky Sound System got their start there), and I always thought certain RSA laws were over the top when I was a bartender myself, but things have gone beyond a joke. These laws are sucking the life out of Sydney.
The problem here is one of culture. While our Prime Minister sets about promoting an "Innovation Nation", the foundations for attracting talent are further reaching than any capital gains tax reform or optimistic prose can provide. If Australia is to have a vibrant tech sector, we need to recognize that top talent comes from the fringe - as do entrepreneurs, empirically. Regulation may drive a good media headline ("Government is doing something!") but in this law of unintended consequences, it will only hasten the funnel of free-thinkers leaving our shores.
While it might be better than Sydney, SF is not a good place for nightlife though. Coming from Tokyo where the standard nightlife routine is arrive at your clubbing area of choice around 12:30am (near last train) because you're stuck there until first train (~5am). So, pretty much all clubs and bars as well as many late night restaurants are open until 5am or later. When I came back to California I hated that my nightlife was basically forced to end at around 1:30am (LA or SF). Many other cities party all night.
Coming back, I have found the mood here to be stifling, and am astonished by how dead the city/inner-east has become - it's a total ghost-town after hours. I complained from afar when I heard Hugo's had shut down (I remember when Sneaky Sound System got their start there), and I always thought certain RSA laws were over the top when I was a bartender myself, but things have gone beyond a joke. These laws are sucking the life out of Sydney.
The problem here is one of culture. While our Prime Minister sets about promoting an "Innovation Nation", the foundations for attracting talent are further reaching than any capital gains tax reform or optimistic prose can provide. If Australia is to have a vibrant tech sector, we need to recognize that top talent comes from the fringe - as do entrepreneurs, empirically. Regulation may drive a good media headline ("Government is doing something!") but in this law of unintended consequences, it will only hasten the funnel of free-thinkers leaving our shores.