That’s a question asked about Red Bank in a provocative blog post by Colleen Curry, a lifelong borough resident and newly minted Villanova alum.
On her blog, Chef? Writer? Red Head, Curry — a former redbankgreen intern — challenges the endlessly recited mantra that Red Bank is a “hip” town, at least as it applies to her cohort.
She writes that except for the bar scene, there’s little evidence of twentysomethings participating in the cultural offerings around town.
Excerpt:
I am twenty-two. I’m a recent college grad, I like bars, music, meeting interesting people, doing fun outdoorsy events, cheap or free activites, and hanging out with other 22-year-olds. I surf the web, Tweet about my days, and read blogs (oh, and write one). These things are in no way extraordinary.
And yet, I feel completely out of place in Red Bank. For years now, even, I have felt like I am on the edge of the Red Bank mileu. I keep reading and hearing that Red Bank is a hip downtown– with free concerts, creative people, cutting edge theater, big-name artists at local venues. But every time I’ve tried to check these things out, I’ve been a total outcast.
Curry writes that though she “loves” Red Bank for its downtown, riverfront and festivals, “right now, I want to get out, and it is for this reason alone: I feel like I am the only young person in a town of 12,000… Red Bank has stuff going on, but it’s stalled. Complacent, stagnant.”
Curry tells us the piece “seems to have touched a nerve,” generating a lot more feedback than she’s expected — all of it via Twitter, naturally. One commenter, who describes herself as a 29-year-old who married into a Red Bank family, wrote that “every event I am invited to or attend is positively swarming with cableknit sweaters and Lilly Pulitzer dresses. Argh argh argh.”
“People my age or close to it have agreed with me, [retailer's name deleted] yelled at me that red bank is not boring, some people blame me for not seeking out more people my age,” Curry tells redbankgreen via Facebook chat.
As for the paucity of early-20s in town, she says, “It’s strange. I know they exist because I see them at bars every single night, but I can’t figure out what everyone’s doing when they’re not there.”
Have at it, folks.
Why would anyone care what this 20 something thinks about anything? Is there a point to this story that is shooting way over my head? This almost makes me yearn for more news about Michael (apparently the story of the decade) Jacksons death. tweet tweet.
Yes, notsureanymore, your hunch was very much on the money. There is a point to this story that is shooting way over your head.
BDonohue, please enlighten me.
This “notsureanymore” character is really quite an annoying dolt. Buzz off, sourpuss.
In the 90’s young artist types hung out at the cafe’s. We had open mic nights and Improv nights. It was a culture of hippies, grunge rockers, literary types and artists in their 20’s that made Red Bank “Hip.” We supported each others creativity and freedom of expression. It was that vibe that made Red Bank a place to come to. That era has passed.Now the draw for Red Bank is the high end stores and the events.Things are always changing and evoving, who knows a new era could be on the rise right now. We townies that were in our 20’s at the time also called town “Dead Bank.” There was nothin’going on except sidewalk sales! I think all of the events are wonderful and bring a community together. Every era has it pros and cons.
aaaayyy!!! 20 somethin’s in Red bank, forget about it! De all up here in Brooklyn (the real Hip City) where the rents are cheap and the landlord are A.O.K.!, not in good ol’ Red Bank Where the rents are High and the landlords are Higher (or atleast smokin’ sumthin) aaaaayyyy!!!!! or better yet Asbury park where atleast it’s OK to be 20 somethin, but Red bank Forget aboutit!!! Dead Bank all the way!!!!!
Part of the problem is the high rents. A decent one-bedroom apartment starts around $1100 and goes up from there. You can get something similar — or nicer — in Asbury, Belmar, or Long Branch, plus you’re closer to the younger-kids live music action (The Saint) and the shore bars. Pretty simple explanation, if you ask me. For example, my young, hip cousin (25 or so) lives in Asbury. She shares an entire house with a roommate and I think the whole place is $1100/mo.
Meanwhile, I’m in my early 40s and I really enjoy RB, but maybe that’s because I *do* feel at home here. The Basie doesn’t showcase acts that appeal to the 20-somethings; it features acts (Fab Faux, Elvis Costello, Little Feat) that draw me and my contemporaries. Brookdale Public Radio plays a more mellow selection of artists (Shawn Colvin, anyone?) than The Rat, and their Songwriters in the Park concert series features artists in keeping with their playlist…so you won’t see the kiddies at the July 10 kickoff show with Steve Forbert, or any of the others, for that matter, unless they are playing with the opening band. And the town’s one bar that did draw that crowd, Chubby’s, has just closed and rebranded itself to appeal to–you guessed it–an older clientele.
High rents keep the kids away.
It’s unfair for the author to compare Red Bank to other “cool, interesting cities” like Austin, Brooklyn, and Montreal. Red Bank is not an urban area - never was, never will be. It is a surburban town and the struggles of appealing to every demographic and age group is a problem that every suburban area faces. No matter what New Jersey Magazine says, Red Bank is a town of 10,000 people and cannot possibly offer everything to everyone.
I’m not saying that Red Bank doesn’t have it’s share of problems or that it can’t do better in many areas- but it is short-sighted to suggest that there is a lost generation that isn’t being served by the community. Middletown has co-ed softball leagues and creative types meeting at Panera, Asbury Park has coffee houses and great original music, Houlihan’s in Holmdel is always filled with young professional types during Happy Hour. Look beyond the confines of this town and there’s a great community of interesting people getting together and doing great things.
It’s easy to romanticize what Red Bank was in the 90’s, but let’s face it, it was no different than it is now. The difference between 1995 Red Bank and 2009 Red Bank is that there were more kids shooting heroin in Marine Park in 1995. Cafes weren’t specifically catering to creative types, they were just making money off their backs because creative types needed a place to congregate. I’d wager that the reason there isn’t a weekly creative writers meetup at Zebu isn’t because the owner said no, it’s because no one has asked. I’ve found that owners of bars and cafes in town are willing to go to great lengths to accommodate groups of people who are willing to pump money into their establishment.
Ask anyone involved in local music in the 90’s and they’ll all agree that Red Bank was not the place to go for a lot of genres. What did people do? They went to The Saint in Asbury, Brighton Bar in Long Branch, fire halls in Old Bridge, and basements in New Brunswick. We looked beyond Red Bank and went to where we had to go in order to be with the groups we wanted to be with. No difference between then and now.
Again, I’m not saying that Red Bank is a 100% awesome place to be or that it is not without fault. But focusing on what Red Bank is doing wrong will prevent people from seeing and participating in all of the awesome things going on in the nearby area.
Buzzing off “red bank decline” just because you asked. Sorry that I annoy you!! Another brain-trust that makes negative comments on other’s comments while adding nothing to the party.
Interesting comment melonfarmer I had forgotten how much fun things were in the 90’s and 80’s but for me it was not here in town. When I was a 20 something (now 46) we went out, we lit bonfires on the beach, we explored and didn’t waste time chatting, texting and blogging about things that seemed obvious. We couldn’t they were not options for us.
I grew up in Holmdel, we seldom came to RB except when our moms sponsored shopping trips. Weeknights>> Long Branch was the real hang for most of us, Club Spanky, Pier Pub, Ron’s (still there) West End Pub, Laugh Inn Saloon, Brighton Bar. NYC (when NYC was dirty, thanks mayors Lindsay, Beam and Dinkins) for weekend fun and always managed to be on the beach early on the weekends. Belmar was the beach of course. Never sun where you drink.
Twenty somethings today are forced into sterile existences because they are managed. Not allowed to explore. No Rocky Horror@ Belmar, no Jacks at the Tracks after the beach. I retract my initial comment about this story, it got me thinking. Glad I don’t have kids, I would be a terrible parent. Sorry to report Colleen, there is no longer anyplace to run. Alternatives has been governed out by people like me and your folks. I guess I have become a sourpuss.
Too Bad we can’t get things like Improv to come back. Red Bank is so expensive, and they offered a cheap alternative to the bar scene. Where are they now?
This is dribble. This girl needs to get productive. Do useful things. Help people. Then you will be fulfilled
It’s all a matter of perspective; trough swilling double dipping political attorneys with official powers and their sycophants call a crony upper class fiefdom “hip city”. Young artists, musicians, skateboarders and twenty sumethings would call it “dead city” or corrupt City. It just depends on your point of view.
Honey, how do I break it to you, but twentysomething people usually don’t get involved in “cultural institutions.” You say “with the exception of the bar scene” - that is where twentysomethings hang out! I’ve been twenty and being twenty is all about meeting people in bars and (hopefully) going home with them! Nobody gets involved in cultural stuff until you’ve run out of options! I care about cultural institutions, but I’m in my 40’s now!
And today you’ve got myspace, you got facebook, you got twitter, and you got the internet. You can buy a pizza on line, you can see a movie on line - everything is done now virtually in cyberspace! Nobody goes anywhere! Nobody has any real friends anymore - they just have friends on Facebook!
And you’re in your twenties so you’re probably even more linked to these social networking sites than people my age!
A 20yo friend fronts a very productive band, goes to a university full time and teaches himself new things all the time. His life is rich, full and satisfying. He doesn’t expect the world to beat a path to his door - he creates his own world. It reminds this 49yo of his own youth - and the path I blazed then which continues to this day. If you want to find outlets, its called NJ Transit. Get off yer butt and go somewhere. Explore your world. Stop living a virtual life with your stupid and insipid handhelds. Your life is empty only because you make it that way. Oh, and BTW, notsureanymore, I grew up in NYC, leaving that cesspool that your heroes Lindsey, Beame and Dinkins helped ruin to re-discover a wonderful town called Red Bank that reminded me of the neighborhood in Queens that I grew up in during the 60s and 70s: shop owners I knew by name, clean elegant streets, polite and respectful denizens, a place I would be proud to call home. I do regret that Pyramid Books and Prowns are gone. But that does not make the town. Its people do. Your life is what you make it. You are fortunate to live near many local urban centers. Its summertime - get out of the house! And not to a bar, fer chrissakes!!
BroadwayBill: “being twenty is all about meeting people in bars and (hopefully) going home with them!”
Thanks for your insight, but all 20 year olds don’t fit this category. The majority, yeah, probably, but it seems today everyone is a drunk. Not just 20 year olds.
Oh yeah, I’m guessing you haven’t been to the movies lately because they are always filled with teens and 20 year olds.
I guess we all love to sit inside and play with our virtual friends.
HotRod,
You misunderstood what I was saying about nyc, I agree it was a cesspool but it was a lot of fun for a kid from the burbs to explore. I was crediting Lindsey, Beame and Dinkins for the ruin they created. They are not my heros.
Not that any of this matters anyway.
I’m delighted that there’s a 20something who cares about Red Bank’s energy and vitality enough to comment on it. I’m out of my 20s but I’m all for anything that draws people of all ages to town. For starters, I second the observation about the Basie and its line-up. The Wilco show was what, a couple of years ago? Come on, not every act has to be pitched to people over 50. Look at the Tarrytown Music Hall and Town Hall in Irvington (both in NY). Both small venues but they include younger up-and-comers. It’d be a start . . .
I’m with her on this one, Red Bank’s ‘hip city’ status seems a little overrated sometimes. Almost everything closes by 9 (except the bars), cableknit sweaters everywhere. Rent is way out of whack with what some of my friends are paying in Brooklyn/Queens, only reason it works for me here is that I stick to walkable destinations. Getting better with the Downtown and Jamian’s, 2 years ago it was NYC every weekend for me.
You guys should try kayaking out on the Navesink River for something different. Instead of going to Happy Hour, go home, through your boat on the roof of your car, launch in the river and paddle over to Boondocks Grill in Marine Park. Just a thought.