Austin has a reputation as a party town, but visitors will be disappointed to learn that the majority of the city closes early. If you want to catch the Austin night scene you need to know where to go, or you could miss it entirely. Or worse, you could find yourself participating in parts of the Austin night scene that your particular social group can’t stand.

The regular stretch of Sixth Street spans between Brazos and I-35. When people think of the Austin night scene, this comes to mind first. On any given night you can find the street packed with Russian tourists, burgeoning party kids from Nacogdoches, conventioneers, and surprisingly few people who actually live in Austin. Nevertheless, it is a democratic place, and just about anyone can enjoy Austin’s night scene along this street. As long as the plan involves binge drinking and behaving poorly.

In the past few years West Sixth has ascended to prominence in the Austin night scene, exceeded only by the bars and clubs east of Congress Avenue. If your plans for the evening include drunk driving and general douchebaggery, you will find a welcoming community here.

The two square blocks of the warehouse district function as a waypoint for any serious crawl through the Austin night scene. The restaurants and theme bars serve a clientele of urban cowboys and facsimile-Irish.

Although it has only a handful of businesses open after 10pm, the Second Street District shows promise as a night spot with a uniquely posh character. When people reminisce about an Austin night scene that never used to include valet service, they point their slacker fingers here.

Despite Austin’s branding as the “Live Music Capital of the World,” the much lauded “entertainment district” rarely has any live music, unless you count cover bands and party DJs, the two most reprehensible types of losers in history. The stretch of clubs along Red River carry the musical reputation of the Austin night scene, maintaining our collective cred in the eyes of scenesters the world over.

Rainey Street has also recently entered the fray of the Austin night scene. Zoning issues will decide if Rainey Street will continue to serve as an overflow outlet for the crowds of downtown partiers.

East Sixth, or “Dirty Sixth,” continues the Sixth Street night scene east of I-35. Hipsters form the defining look of this gentrified neighborhood. If you have no idea what a hipster is, then you should stay on the other side of the interstate. If you deny being a hipster, and are offended that I would even make the implication, this is the perfect part of the Austin night scene for you.

For everyone else, those strange, denigrated creatures known as townies, your elbows have long since worn grooves in the part of the Austin night scene where you find yourself most comfortable. Whether you buy your cocktails and beer in the fearsome wilds south of the river, or the empty stretches of city north of Fifteenth Street, you know where you belong, which is the singular definable trait of a townie.

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