The night life

photo 1: showing Universal Bar on the Western Main Road on a Thursday night. One can see various patrons in and around the bar emulating the urban concept of 'night life'.

photo 2: showing the very popular bar, Smokey and Bunty. It is also located on the Western Main Road obliquely opposite to Universal bar. A similar setting is also seen. On weekends, the crowds of patrons are far larger than what is depicted here.

"The district of St. James has been called “the city that never sleeps” because of its thumping music, sidewalk vendors and straightforward, down-to-earth drinking dens. You’ll find loads of bars along the Western Main Road. Of these, the most famous is the signature Smokey and Bunty‘s, a legendary liming spot where regular characters who are an evening’s entertainment all by themselves." (discovertnt.com)

photo 3: showing newly opened lounge, 'On Mucorapo' located on Mucurapo Road, St. James.

source: facebook.com

The demand for leisure activities drove the development of a landscape for leisure in the built environment. Visionary entrepreneurs began to make such leisure sites more accessible, safe, clean, and attractive to render them respectable to the middle class. With the rise of the industrial city, leisure became a more important and clearly discernible part of the pattern of daily life (culture) in St. James. Despite the longtime existence of a small upper class with the time and resources to pursue cultivated leisure activities in the colonial and early national periods, most Trinidadians enjoy a more middle class clearly defined leisure time such as in St James.

There are many other facilities that provide a form of leisure such as: casinos, private member clubs and recreational parks. St. James resembles the famous, Ariapita Avenue in Woodbrook, another urban area which is also a part of the city of Port of Spain. It has a variety of different recreational facilities such as night clubs and casinos. St. James therefore provides the urban function of recreation and can therefore be defined as an urban area.

References: 

Encyclopedia.com,. 2015. 'Urbanization Of Leisure - Encyclopedia Of Recreation And Leisure In America | Encyclopedia.Com'. http://www.encyclopedia.com/article-1G2-3434800265/urbanization-leisure.html.

Discover Trinidad & Tobago Travel Guide,. 2013. 'Trinidad's Nightlife & Entertainment Scene | Discover Trinidad & Tobago Travel Guide'. http://www.discovertnt.com/articles/Trinidad/Trinidad-Nightlife-Entertainment-Scene/66/3/29#axzz3WvYfWJLJ.