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Corean Reynolds has high hopes for nightlife in Boston. As the city’s first ever director of nightlife economy, she is tasked with changing Boston’s sleepy reputation and making it more dynamic at night.
But that’s a tall order.
“Boston has great stock and great infrastructure,” Reynolds told me as we sat at a booth in Estella. “We have awesome assets to make this the vibrant 24-hour city that we all want to see.”
To Reynolds, being a 24-hour city doesn’t just mean late night bars. It means restaurants, transportation and the convenience of daytime life when the lights go out. It means “extending our services, extending our business activity into the hours, the late hours, so if someone wants to pick up a jug of milk at 10 p.m.,” they can.
I didn’t meet up with Reynolds at Estella by accident. She chose the location because it represents a Boston that could be. The restaurant is located downtown, an area that’s struggled to rebound post-pandemic — one that Reynolds hopes to revitalize. It’s also owned by a person of color in their early 30s, and inclusivity in both ownership and enjoyment of nightlife venues is at the core of Reynolds’ push.
But all of that is easier said than done in a city with deeply rooted legal and cultural barriers — which we’ll get into as we continue our new series Nightlife In Boston with our friends at Axios Boston. Reynolds, for her part, hopes she can skirt those barriers with workarounds that don’t require major policy changes.
“If you look at the BYOB [bring your own booze] license, that’s a way to get folks in the door after 5 in your local coffee shop, in your bookstore, in your nail salon, but not a lot of folks utilize that.”
What do you think the nightlife czar should do to improve nightlife in Boston? Let us know in this survey.
