So, the same policy of hostile architecture that gets used to try to be unwelcoming of homeless people can be applied to other demographics and other social problems. Color me not thrilled with this approach.

I've just never had the kind of life that involved lots of alcohol and loud parties. So my admittedly biased tendency is to feel there is no tremendous value in fostering such things. But as other people have noted, this doesn't just impede loud carousers. It also prevents other kinds of just hanging out with people.

The article notes that the nearby commercial development basically sold pizza and beer and suggested this was influenced by the nighttime activities here. It seems to me that trying to get more of a commercial mix in the area could help or otherwise try to foster evening activities other than drinking, hanging in the plaza for free and being loud.

There was one charity that created a midnight basketball program to combat the problem of inner city youth having nothing to do but be troublemakers. It's not like you need to reinvent the wheel here, so to speak. There are examples out there for how to resolve similar kinds of problems in a win/win fashion that gives the offending parties something better to do instead of merely vilifying them.