https://www.shawlocal.com/daily-chronicl...own-dekalb


Sucks to lose a cool microbrewery in the heart of downtown, lets hope another upscale pub seemlessly takes it's place

Dekalb needs to right it's ship, can't say enough how important getting the school back over 20k is, getting students back into the housing intended for students, etc..

Freeman has to go ASAP.

(04-16-2024 06:55 AM)NIUfilmmaker Wrote:  https://www.shawlocal.com/daily-chronicl...own-dekalb


Sucks to lose a cool microbrewery in the heart of downtown, lets hope another upscale pub seemlessly takes it's place

Dekalb needs to right it's ship, can't say enough how important getting the school back over 20k is, getting students back into the housing intended for students, etc..

Freeman has to go ASAP.

Kind of surprised. A good crowd in there every time I was there. But I will say one thing, we NEVER had good service. We were there on a slow day and a busy day and each time, our food order took forever to get to us. Once we had to change the order to "to go" because it took so long and we were almost late to the thing we were out there for in the first place.

But I've also been to their location in Ottawa and had absolutely no problems with service there.

(04-16-2024 07:45 AM)Big Red Wrote:  

(04-16-2024 06:55 AM)NIUfilmmaker Wrote:  https://www.shawlocal.com/daily-chronicl...own-dekalb


Sucks to lose a cool microbrewery in the heart of downtown, lets hope another upscale pub seemlessly takes it's place

Dekalb needs to right it's ship, can't say enough how important getting the school back over 20k is, getting students back into the housing intended for students, etc..

Freeman has to go ASAP.

Kind of surprised. A good crowd in there every time I was there. But I will say one thing, we NEVER had good service. We were there on a slow day and a busy day and each time, our food order took forever to get to us. Once we had to change the order to "to go" because it took so long and we were almost late to the thing we were out there for in the first place.

But I've also been to their location in Ottawa and had absolutely no problems with service there.

Micro Breweries are a tough business nowadays. The market got a little oversaturated with them, after a boom in the 2010s.

I wasn't feeling too bad, because I thought there were some other microbreweries in DeKalb. But upon further research, they all closed too. No more Forge, Byers and now no Keg and Kernel.

(04-16-2024 07:47 AM)HawaiiToNIU Wrote:  

(04-16-2024 07:45 AM)Big Red Wrote:  

(04-16-2024 06:55 AM)NIUfilmmaker Wrote:  https://www.shawlocal.com/daily-chronicl...own-dekalb


Sucks to lose a cool microbrewery in the heart of downtown, lets hope another upscale pub seemlessly takes it's place

Dekalb needs to right it's ship, can't say enough how important getting the school back over 20k is, getting students back into the housing intended for students, etc..

Freeman has to go ASAP.

Kind of surprised. A good crowd in there every time I was there. But I will say one thing, we NEVER had good service. We were there on a slow day and a busy day and each time, our food order took forever to get to us. Once we had to change the order to "to go" because it took so long and we were almost late to the thing we were out there for in the first place.

But I've also been to their location in Ottawa and had absolutely no problems with service there.

Micro Breweries are a tough business nowadays. The market got a little oversaturated with them, after a boom in the 2010s.

I wasn't feeling too bad, because I thought there were some other microbreweries in DeKalb. But upon further research, they all closed too. No more Forge, Byers and now no Keg and Kernel.

I didn't know Byers had closed. It was a neat place. I did hear that Forge in Sycamore closed.

Well, now there's an opening. I've always felt a coffee shop downtown would be good. Specifically a roaster.

Anyway, regarding a brewery. I bet Byers couldn't compete with K&K and now they end up closing too. TR might have over-extended themselves with 4 locations. Maybe a new one will open. IMO, any brewery downtown DeKalb needs to serve food or it won't last. People (craft beer drinkers) will travel to try new places but not repeatedly if there isn't food to 1) bring them back and 2) keep them there.

I'm not sure what it's like out in DeKalb County but I know breweries having a time in Cook with all the red tape and loops to jump through and the ever increasing cost of licenses just to operate. Seems like a county like DeKalb would look to those things as a way to get people and businesses out there.

(04-16-2024 07:57 AM)Big Red Wrote:  

(04-16-2024 07:47 AM)HawaiiToNIU Wrote:  

(04-16-2024 07:45 AM)Big Red Wrote:  

(04-16-2024 06:55 AM)NIUfilmmaker Wrote:  https://www.shawlocal.com/daily-chronicl...own-dekalb


Sucks to lose a cool microbrewery in the heart of downtown, lets hope another upscale pub seemlessly takes it's place

Dekalb needs to right it's ship, can't say enough how important getting the school back over 20k is, getting students back into the housing intended for students, etc..

Freeman has to go ASAP.

Kind of surprised. A good crowd in there every time I was there. But I will say one thing, we NEVER had good service. We were there on a slow day and a busy day and each time, our food order took forever to get to us. Once we had to change the order to "to go" because it took so long and we were almost late to the thing we were out there for in the first place.

But I've also been to their location in Ottawa and had absolutely no problems with service there.

Micro Breweries are a tough business nowadays. The market got a little oversaturated with them, after a boom in the 2010s.

I wasn't feeling too bad, because I thought there were some other microbreweries in DeKalb. But upon further research, they all closed too. No more Forge, Byers and now no Keg and Kernel.

I didn't know Byers had closed. It was a neat place. I did hear that Forge in Sycamore closed.

Well, now there's an opening. I've always felt a coffee shop downtown would be good. Specifically a roaster.

Anyway, regarding a brewery. I bet Byers couldn't compete with K&K and now they end up closing too. TR might have over-extended themselves with 4 locations. Maybe a new one will open. IMO, any brewery downtown DeKalb needs to serve food or it won't last. People (craft beer drinkers) will travel to try new places but not repeatedly if there isn't food to 1) bring them back and 2) keep them there.

I'm not sure what it's like out in DeKalb County but I know breweries having a time in Cook with all the red tape and loops to jump through and the ever increasing cost of licenses just to operate. Seems like a county like DeKalb would look to those things as a way to get people and businesses out there.

Feel free to add in things you were fond of. This is from my time between 2006-2011. I took an extra year because I like to party.

Here's a personal list of things that have closed that upset me. I have fond memories of these places:

The entire Hillcrest Mall...I used to get cheap meat to bbq from the Mexican grocery store
Campus Cinemas... Movies so cheap
Otto's and the Underground... The Underground was cool
Illini Tire...pure nostalgia
Huskies Pizza...$3.75 a slice and a pop
Bacci's Pizza
The Smoothie Place... It became F&Js Hot Dogs then later Lukulos
Lukulos...not because it was good, but for nostalgia
Rapp Daddy's Fried Chicken... It was excellent
Tom & Jerry's... Best drunk food
The House Cafe
The VCB...I worked there and I liked their apparel selection
Great Wall Chinese... It was a vibe
O'Leary's
The Hillside
Eduardo's
Sunshine Scoops
Shelley's
The Pita Place next to Shelley's
Lundeen's... Seriously, how does a liquor store close in a college town?!?!? I guess Thirsty's got looted, so maybe that's why they left but still operate locations elsewhere
Starbusters... This place was always packed as I recall, how the hell did it close?
Reilly's
El Famous Burrito
Johnny's Charhouse
Ruby Tuesday

(04-16-2024 06:55 AM)NIUfilmmaker Wrote:  https://www.shawlocal.com/daily-chronicl...own-dekalb


Sucks to lose a cool microbrewery in the heart of downtown, lets hope another upscale pub seemlessly takes it's place

Dekalb needs to right it's ship, can't say enough how important getting the school back over 20k is, getting students back into the housing intended for students, etc..

Freeman has to go ASAP.

Wait! I thought you said STF was the source of all evil related to NIU.

Blaming Freeman for this is insane. Sad to see it close but downtown dekalb is 100x better than it was 10-15 years ago.

(04-16-2024 10:06 AM)7 Wrote:  Blaming Freeman for this is insane. Sad to see it close but downtown dekalb is 100x better than it was 10-15 years ago.

Yeah, it's not any one person or group's fault in my opinion. It's a collection of bad news, compounding on each other, and now we are here.

There's not a silver bullet either. It's going to take a lot of small changes to effect a big change.

But I agree. Downtown DeKalb is a lot nicer than it was in my time. As much as I hated seeing Otto's close, the apartment building in that area is a thousand times nicer. I just tasted the memory of Busch Light in my mouth as I typed this out.

(04-16-2024 10:06 AM)7 Wrote:  Blaming Freeman for this is insane. Sad to see it close but downtown dekalb is 100x better than it was 10-15 years ago.

There are of course a dozen factors pushing back on Dekalb, but NIU/Freeman is certainly one of them. Do you doubt that an NIU at 20k students has less business closings then Freemans gerrymandered NIU at 15k students?

Of course she didn't run Keg and Kernel out of town personally, but everything gets healthier if she stops stifling NIU enrollment.

Glad to hear downtown NIU looks better than it did 10 years ago. I haven't been in like 30 months, some of you describe it as a war zone

(04-16-2024 01:36 PM)NIUfilmmaker Wrote:  

(04-16-2024 10:06 AM)7 Wrote:  Blaming Freeman for this is insane. Sad to see it close but downtown dekalb is 100x better than it was 10-15 years ago.

There are of course a dozen factors pushing back on Dekalb, but NIU/Freeman is certainly one of them. Do you doubt that an NIU at 20k students has less business closings then Freemans gerrymandered NIU at 15k students?

Of course she didn't run Keg and Kernel out of town personally, but everything gets healthier if she stops stifling NIU enrollment.

Glad to hear downtown NIU looks better than it did 10 years ago. I haven't been in like 30 months, some of you describe it as a war zone

An additional 10,000 students certainly wouldn’t hurt. A 40% enrollment decline has to have had a pretty significant impact on the entire area.

(04-16-2024 01:41 PM)HuskieDave Wrote:  

(04-16-2024 01:36 PM)NIUfilmmaker Wrote:  

(04-16-2024 10:06 AM)7 Wrote:  Blaming Freeman for this is insane. Sad to see it close but downtown dekalb is 100x better than it was 10-15 years ago.

There are of course a dozen factors pushing back on Dekalb, but NIU/Freeman is certainly one of them. Do you doubt that an NIU at 20k students has less business closings then Freemans gerrymandered NIU at 15k students?

Of course she didn't run Keg and Kernel out of town personally, but everything gets healthier if she stops stifling NIU enrollment.

Glad to hear downtown NIU looks better than it did 10 years ago. I haven't been in like 30 months, some of you describe it as a war zone

An additional 10,000 students certainly wouldn’t hurt. A 40% enrollment decline has to have had a pretty significant impact on the entire area.

Add the parents, siblings, and others that are multipliers to the loss in Student population and it really adds up to less people visiting DeKalb. Please do not bring up Covid, lower HS numbers, state funding, or the other excuses. ISU and UIC are doing fine under the same parameters. The problem is the Freeman administration. In addition to all the other missteps, they think it a good recruiting strategy to alienate 65 percent of the general population to chase diversity metrics.

(04-16-2024 01:36 PM)NIUfilmmaker Wrote:  

(04-16-2024 10:06 AM)7 Wrote:  Blaming Freeman for this is insane. Sad to see it close but downtown dekalb is 100x better than it was 10-15 years ago.

There are of course a dozen factors pushing back on Dekalb, but NIU/Freeman is certainly one of them. Do you doubt that an NIU at 20k students has less business closings then Freemans gerrymandered NIU at 15k students?

Of course she didn't run Keg and Kernel out of town personally, but everything gets healthier if she stops stifling NIU enrollment.

Glad to hear downtown NIU looks better than it did 10 years ago. I haven't been in like 30 months, some of you describe it as a war zone

I live in DeKalb County and frequently visit downtown. It is nice and actually has life. I’m not sure why anyone thinks downtown is a “war zone”. Most of the crime in DeKalb is located in Annie Glidden north.

(04-16-2024 02:38 PM)Big_Man Wrote:  

(04-16-2024 01:36 PM)NIUfilmmaker Wrote:  

(04-16-2024 10:06 AM)7 Wrote:  Blaming Freeman for this is insane. Sad to see it close but downtown dekalb is 100x better than it was 10-15 years ago.

There are of course a dozen factors pushing back on Dekalb, but NIU/Freeman is certainly one of them. Do you doubt that an NIU at 20k students has less business closings then Freemans gerrymandered NIU at 15k students?

Of course she didn't run Keg and Kernel out of town personally, but everything gets healthier if she stops stifling NIU enrollment.

Glad to hear downtown NIU looks better than it did 10 years ago. I haven't been in like 30 months, some of you describe it as a war zone

I live in DeKalb County and frequently visit downtown. It is nice and actually has life. I’m not sure why anyone thinks downtown is a “war zone”. Most of the crime in DeKalb is located in Annie Glidden north.

Yes, downtown DeKalb is very nice. I subscribe to the Daily Chronicle and read about all the new establishments opening. It definitely is much nicer and more vibrant than it used to be. I still miss the Hillside and O’Leary’s however.

And, yes, the “war zone” is the Greek row area and north Annie Glidden. It’s not safe to be in those areas, especially at night. Then there’s the vacant, blighted VCB plaza. Being very familiar with the physical campus and off-campus areas as well as the steep decline of the university itself, I would never send my kids there. And yet, when I was at NIU for grad school 50 years ago, I felt that my education there was better than my undergraduate education at Northwestern.

(04-16-2024 01:41 PM)HuskieDave Wrote:  

(04-16-2024 01:36 PM)NIUfilmmaker Wrote:  

(04-16-2024 10:06 AM)7 Wrote:  Blaming Freeman for this is insane. Sad to see it close but downtown dekalb is 100x better than it was 10-15 years ago.

There are of course a dozen factors pushing back on Dekalb, but NIU/Freeman is certainly one of them. Do you doubt that an NIU at 20k students has less business closings then Freemans gerrymandered NIU at 15k students?

Of course she didn't run Keg and Kernel out of town personally, but everything gets healthier if she stops stifling NIU enrollment.

Glad to hear downtown NIU looks better than it did 10 years ago. I haven't been in like 30 months, some of you describe it as a war zone

An additional 10,000 students certainly wouldn’t hurt. A 40% enrollment decline has to have had a pretty significant impact on the entire area.

Who gets blamed for McCabes being closed for 25 years? (Supposedly to reopen)

How about JP Hannigans, The Jungle? The Greeks?

Places closed when enrollment was high. The university can’t be blamed for everything. I bet there are 10x the businesses in DeKalb since the 90s, most on Sycamore Road with what, 25% increase in population? I’m shocked that so many are in business. Not everyone can make it and honestly, the student population hasn’t put many places on the map with their support for great lengths near campus.

(04-18-2024 07:03 AM)randyfensfanclub1 Wrote:  

(04-16-2024 01:41 PM)HuskieDave Wrote:  

(04-16-2024 01:36 PM)NIUfilmmaker Wrote:  

(04-16-2024 10:06 AM)7 Wrote:  Blaming Freeman for this is insane. Sad to see it close but downtown dekalb is 100x better than it was 10-15 years ago.

There are of course a dozen factors pushing back on Dekalb, but NIU/Freeman is certainly one of them. Do you doubt that an NIU at 20k students has less business closings then Freemans gerrymandered NIU at 15k students?

Of course she didn't run Keg and Kernel out of town personally, but everything gets healthier if she stops stifling NIU enrollment.

Glad to hear downtown NIU looks better than it did 10 years ago. I haven't been in like 30 months, some of you describe it as a war zone

An additional 10,000 students certainly wouldn’t hurt. A 40% enrollment decline has to have had a pretty significant impact on the entire area.

Who gets blamed for McCabes being closed for 25 years? (Supposedly to reopen)

How about JP Hannigans, The Jungle? The Greeks?

Places closed when enrollment was high. The university can’t be blamed for everything. I bet there are 10x the businesses in DeKalb since the 90s, most on Sycamore Road with what, 25% increase in population? I’m shocked that so many are in business. Not everyone can make it and honestly, the student population hasn’t put many places on the map with their support for great lengths near campus.

Correct that Businesses rise and fall with a lot of it falling on how they are managed, but you can not dispute the fact that there is a huge multiplier effect that make it easier to run a business with a larger student population. Bars? At least there was some competition and action in the 80s and most of the 90s. Now nothing. IT all goes tot he fact that DeKalb used to be a safe mildly entertaining college town and now it is nowhere near that status due to many factors with a big one being student population decline.

(04-18-2024 08:11 AM)HuskieJ Wrote:  

(04-18-2024 07:03 AM)randyfensfanclub1 Wrote:  

(04-16-2024 01:41 PM)HuskieDave Wrote:  

(04-16-2024 01:36 PM)NIUfilmmaker Wrote:  

(04-16-2024 10:06 AM)7 Wrote:  Blaming Freeman for this is insane. Sad to see it close but downtown dekalb is 100x better than it was 10-15 years ago.

There are of course a dozen factors pushing back on Dekalb, but NIU/Freeman is certainly one of them. Do you doubt that an NIU at 20k students has less business closings then Freemans gerrymandered NIU at 15k students?

Of course she didn't run Keg and Kernel out of town personally, but everything gets healthier if she stops stifling NIU enrollment.

Glad to hear downtown NIU looks better than it did 10 years ago. I haven't been in like 30 months, some of you describe it as a war zone

An additional 10,000 students certainly wouldn’t hurt. A 40% enrollment decline has to have had a pretty significant impact on the entire area.

Who gets blamed for McCabes being closed for 25 years? (Supposedly to reopen)

How about JP Hannigans, The Jungle? The Greeks?

Places closed when enrollment was high. The university can’t be blamed for everything. I bet there are 10x the businesses in DeKalb since the 90s, most on Sycamore Road with what, 25% increase in population? I’m shocked that so many are in business. Not everyone can make it and honestly, the student population hasn’t put many places on the map with their support for great lengths near campus.

Correct that Businesses rise and fall with a lot of it falling on how they are managed, but you can not dispute the fact that there is a huge multiplier effect that make it easier to run a business with a larger student population. Bars? At least there was some competition and action in the 80s and most of the 90s. Now nothing. IT all goes tot he fact that DeKalb used to be a safe mildly entertaining college town and now it is nowhere near that status due to many factors with a big one being student population decline.

Yes, and remember all the action around Greek row? Well, yes, there’s still action there, but now it’s more like dodging bullets, knives, and fights.

(04-18-2024 09:27 AM)Dog Fan Wrote:  

(04-18-2024 08:11 AM)HuskieJ Wrote:  

(04-18-2024 07:03 AM)randyfensfanclub1 Wrote:  

(04-16-2024 01:41 PM)HuskieDave Wrote:  

(04-16-2024 01:36 PM)NIUfilmmaker Wrote:  There are of course a dozen factors pushing back on Dekalb, but NIU/Freeman is certainly one of them. Do you doubt that an NIU at 20k students has less business closings then Freemans gerrymandered NIU at 15k students?

Of course she didn't run Keg and Kernel out of town personally, but everything gets healthier if she stops stifling NIU enrollment.

Glad to hear downtown NIU looks better than it did 10 years ago. I haven't been in like 30 months, some of you describe it as a war zone

An additional 10,000 students certainly wouldn’t hurt. A 40% enrollment decline has to have had a pretty significant impact on the entire area.

Who gets blamed for McCabes being closed for 25 years? (Supposedly to reopen)

How about JP Hannigans, The Jungle? The Greeks?

Places closed when enrollment was high. The university can’t be blamed for everything. I bet there are 10x the businesses in DeKalb since the 90s, most on Sycamore Road with what, 25% increase in population? I’m shocked that so many are in business. Not everyone can make it and honestly, the student population hasn’t put many places on the map with their support for great lengths near campus.

Correct that Businesses rise and fall with a lot of it falling on how they are managed, but you can not dispute the fact that there is a huge multiplier effect that make it easier to run a business with a larger student population. Bars? At least there was some competition and action in the 80s and most of the 90s. Now nothing. IT all goes tot he fact that DeKalb used to be a safe mildly entertaining college town and now it is nowhere near that status due to many factors with a big one being student population decline.

Yes, and remember all the action around Greek row? Well, yes, there’s still action there, but now it’s more like dodging bullets, knives, and fights.

One could say that's more fun. I mean a different kind of fun. But still fun?

(04-18-2024 11:14 AM)HawaiiToNIU Wrote:  

(04-18-2024 09:27 AM)Dog Fan Wrote:  

(04-18-2024 08:11 AM)HuskieJ Wrote:  

(04-18-2024 07:03 AM)randyfensfanclub1 Wrote:  

(04-16-2024 01:41 PM)HuskieDave Wrote:  An additional 10,000 students certainly wouldn’t hurt. A 40% enrollment decline has to have had a pretty significant impact on the entire area.

Who gets blamed for McCabes being closed for 25 years? (Supposedly to reopen)

How about JP Hannigans, The Jungle? The Greeks?

Places closed when enrollment was high. The university can’t be blamed for everything. I bet there are 10x the businesses in DeKalb since the 90s, most on Sycamore Road with what, 25% increase in population? I’m shocked that so many are in business. Not everyone can make it and honestly, the student population hasn’t put many places on the map with their support for great lengths near campus.

Correct that Businesses rise and fall with a lot of it falling on how they are managed, but you can not dispute the fact that there is a huge multiplier effect that make it easier to run a business with a larger student population. Bars? At least there was some competition and action in the 80s and most of the 90s. Now nothing. IT all goes tot he fact that DeKalb used to be a safe mildly entertaining college town and now it is nowhere near that status due to many factors with a big one being student population decline.

Yes, and remember all the action around Greek row? Well, yes, there’s still action there, but now it’s more like dodging bullets, knives, and fights.

One could say that's more fun. I mean a different kind of fun. But still fun?

Who knows? With all the jukes, running between bullets, and dodging them, maybe it’ll develop some super running backs!

(04-18-2024 09:27 AM)Dog Fan Wrote:  

(04-18-2024 08:11 AM)HuskieJ Wrote:  

(04-18-2024 07:03 AM)randyfensfanclub1 Wrote:  

(04-16-2024 01:41 PM)HuskieDave Wrote:  

(04-16-2024 01:36 PM)NIUfilmmaker Wrote:  There are of course a dozen factors pushing back on Dekalb, but NIU/Freeman is certainly one of them. Do you doubt that an NIU at 20k students has less business closings then Freemans gerrymandered NIU at 15k students?

Of course she didn't run Keg and Kernel out of town personally, but everything gets healthier if she stops stifling NIU enrollment.

Glad to hear downtown NIU looks better than it did 10 years ago. I haven't been in like 30 months, some of you describe it as a war zone

An additional 10,000 students certainly wouldn’t hurt. A 40% enrollment decline has to have had a pretty significant impact on the entire area.

Who gets blamed for McCabes being closed for 25 years? (Supposedly to reopen)

How about JP Hannigans, The Jungle? The Greeks?

Places closed when enrollment was high. The university can’t be blamed for everything. I bet there are 10x the businesses in DeKalb since the 90s, most on Sycamore Road with what, 25% increase in population? I’m shocked that so many are in business. Not everyone can make it and honestly, the student population hasn’t put many places on the map with their support for great lengths near campus.

Correct that Businesses rise and fall with a lot of it falling on how they are managed, but you can not dispute the fact that there is a huge multiplier effect that make it easier to run a business with a larger student population. Bars? At least there was some competition and action in the 80s and most of the 90s. Now nothing. IT all goes tot he fact that DeKalb used to be a safe mildly entertaining college town and now it is nowhere near that status due to many factors with a big one being student population decline.

Yes, and remember all the action around Greek row? Well, yes, there’s still action there, but now it’s more like dodging bullets, knives, and fights.

Places were closing when enrollment fell perhaps but was still low. The housing expanded to meet growth the school could not maintain. Sprawl went west of Annie Glidden the the east went to Sec 8 crap.

We can all relive glory days and we enjoyed them. But change is inevitable. I go to CU a couple times a year. Green St was the happening area 20-30 years ago. Now there are but a 3-4 bars and about a dozen Asian food places. But downtown Champaign is pretty cool. Bars, restaurants. 20+ years ago was nothing. Not your party college kids though. But even then, there is high turnover dtown.

How do explain the growth exponentially in the DeKalb/Sycamore corridor vs. campus? Building where the people are, not using old building you need to build out and of course, going where the people (with money) are. Like 5x the students in Champaign with2x the on/near campus bars. Can't make money on nickel beers and 1.00 draft specials and kids, the ones there and not going home don't have the money.

(04-18-2024 10:30 PM)randyfensfanclub1 Wrote:  

(04-18-2024 09:27 AM)Dog Fan Wrote:  

(04-18-2024 08:11 AM)HuskieJ Wrote:  

(04-18-2024 07:03 AM)randyfensfanclub1 Wrote:  

(04-16-2024 01:41 PM)HuskieDave Wrote:  An additional 10,000 students certainly wouldn’t hurt. A 40% enrollment decline has to have had a pretty significant impact on the entire area.

Who gets blamed for McCabes being closed for 25 years? (Supposedly to reopen)

How about JP Hannigans, The Jungle? The Greeks?

Places closed when enrollment was high. The university can’t be blamed for everything. I bet there are 10x the businesses in DeKalb since the 90s, most on Sycamore Road with what, 25% increase in population? I’m shocked that so many are in business. Not everyone can make it and honestly, the student population hasn’t put many places on the map with their support for great lengths near campus.

Correct that Businesses rise and fall with a lot of it falling on how they are managed, but you can not dispute the fact that there is a huge multiplier effect that make it easier to run a business with a larger student population. Bars? At least there was some competition and action in the 80s and most of the 90s. Now nothing. IT all goes tot he fact that DeKalb used to be a safe mildly entertaining college town and now it is nowhere near that status due to many factors with a big one being student population decline.

Yes, and remember all the action around Greek row? Well, yes, there’s still action there, but now it’s more like dodging bullets, knives, and fights.

Places were closing when enrollment fell perhaps but was still low. The housing expanded to meet growth the school could not maintain. Sprawl went west of Annie Glidden the the east went to Sec 8 crap.

We can all relive glory days and we enjoyed them. But change is inevitable. I go to CU a couple times a year. Green St was the happening area 20-30 years ago. Now there are but a 3-4 bars and about a dozen Asian food places. But downtown Champaign is pretty cool. Bars, restaurants. 20+ years ago was nothing. Not your party college kids though. But even then, there is high turnover dtown.

How do explain the growth exponentially in the DeKalb/Sycamore corridor vs. campus? Building where the people are, not using old building you need to build out and of course, going where the people (with money) are. Like 5x the students in Champaign with2x the on/near campus bars. Can't make money on nickel beers and 1.00 draft specials and kids, the ones there and not going home don't have the money.

Seems to me trends are different and downtowns/areas near campus need to adjust to it. Like you mention from back in the day, penny pitchers/75 cent you call it well drinks/etc/etc, probably don't do the draw like they did back in the 70s, 80s, and 90s.

With the legalization of weed (and even before that but especially now) I think less young people are interested in going to a bar and drinking cheap liquor. There seems to be an overall trend to stay home and do edibles or go to parties and do...other things. Drinking is still a thing but there are way other options that young people prefer.

And it saddens me that the breweries closed but lets be honest, those places do not cater at all to college kids as a hangout. They cater to guys like me and guys like me really don't want to hang out with a bunch of college kids.

So, maybe that's why the closed? I don' t know. There's probably a lot of reasons.

Anyway, thinking in terms of what we liked to do and assuming today's college kids want to do the same thing is how business and downtowns fail right now. If you want to take advantage of a population that is 18 to 22ish, then you have to create things that 18 to 22ish year olds are into and breweries and whatever else is around town might not exactly be what they want.