Drunkest U.S. Cities

• gorocks99

  

  Based on death rates from alcoholic liver disease, alcohol-related car crashes, frequency of binge-drinking in the past month, number of DUI arrests, and severity of DUI penalties.
  
  http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2010/02/fresno-calif--tops-list-of-drunkest-us-cities-boston-is-last/1
  
  "Drunkest" cities:
  
  1. Fresno, Calif.
  2. Reno, Nev.
  3. Billings, Mont.
  4. Riverside, Calif.
  5. Austin
  6. St. Louis
  7. San Antonio
  8. Lubbock, Texas
  9. Tucson
  10. Bakersfield, Calif.
  
  "Least drunk" cities:
  
  1. Boston
  2. Yonkers, N.Y.
  3. Rochester, N.Y.
  4. Salt Lake City
  5. Miami
  6. Newark
  7. Durham, N.C.
  8. New York City
  9. Fort Wayne, Ind.
  10. Manchester, N.H.
  
  Dunno if this really gets to drunkenness -- Boston is probably at the bottom of the list only b/c a lot of people take public transportation and thus, there are fewer crashes/DUI arrests/etc.
• El Jefe Grande

  Fresno is off da chain.
• september63

  

  Ive discussed this with a buddy that grew up close to Fresno. He said most of the alchohol issues in that area are immigrants brought in to work at all the wineries.
• Al Capone

  I believe Toronto, Ohio at one time was #1 in the country in beer consumption per capita.
  Hopefully someone from there can verify that fact.
• fan_from_texas

  I can't believe Wisconsin cities aren't at the top of the list. Though they've recently been trying to crack down, our DUI laws were a joke for many years.
• gorocks99

  

  Wisconsin is like one giant drunkfest (I know from living in Madison and having my mom grow up in Milwaukee). I'm headed up to see my brother at Octoberfest in La Crosse in September ... supposed to be pretty crazy.
• Cat Food Flambe'

  

  This survey is total bullshit.
  
  Liver disease is a function of poor sanitation as much as anything. When we write health insurance risk for employer groups, one the first stats we look at is the percentage on employees that are born outside of the USA, Canada, and Western Europe. Being born in Mexico, Central, or South America gives you a 30% higher chance of suffering from liver disease given equal alcohol consumption levels and and other health factors. That's more than enough to cause this "statistic" to be pure garbage.
• Manhattan Buckeye

  Can't they just do a survey asking how much people drink per week, or do a study on alcohol sales?
  
  The DUI portion is irrelevant, as is stated above there are some areas where public transportation or walking is prevalent.
  
  Also, does DUI penalty severity increase or decrease standing in the study?
• dwccrew

  

  Stange that the drunkest 10 are all west of the Mississippi and the least drunkest ten are east of the mississippi (minus Salt Lake City). This poll is skewed in someway. There is some sort of factor or variable that is not being examined. Mass transit could be more available in the east coast?
• Cat Food Flambe'

  

  DW - looking at the list of cities, there is a strong skew towards high levels of Latin-born residents, which would totally whack out the disease function
  
  GoRocks - sorry if it sounds like I was jumping your case personally - that was not the intent.
• dwccrew

  

  ^^^^True
• fan_from_texas

  A big winter tradition in Wisconsin is going "T-to-T." Basically, people hop on snowmobiles, go to a tavern (the "T"), get hammered, hop on snowmobile, go to next T, rinse and repeat.
  
  Whenever people visit me here, they inevitably remark on the lack of open container laws (or enforcement). If you're in downtown Milwaukee in the summer time, you see lots of people walking around with beer in hand. Heck, there was almost a riot when they attempted to tell people they couldn't bring alcohol to 'jazz in the park,' the weekly jazz fest in Milwaukee.
  
  When i moved here, I thought it was very strange. The local kids museum has a beermaking exhibit! I can't even fathom other places I've lived teaching 4 year olds how to make beer . . . it's just a completely different mindset here.
• Foul Tip

  Now that Ted Kennedy is gone I can understand why Boston made the least drunk list.