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Earlier this week, Forbes published a study where they ranked America's drunkest cities. After narrowing the list to thirty-five cities and using a template more suited to determining economic indicators, Forbes ranked the cities listed based on five factors:
- state laws regarding alcohol consumption and sales
- drinkers in a city (based on the number of people who said they had at least one drink in the past 30 days)
- heavy drinkers (based on men who said they had more than two drinks a day, and women who drank more than one drink per day)
- binge drinkers (based on respondents who had more than five drinks on one occasion)
- alcoholism (based on the number of AA meetings in an area).
With the exception of the state law factor (which Forbes could only obtain data from eight markets), higher numbers affected a city's drunkenness.
We'll stop the suspense here. Chicago ranked as the sixth most drunken city in America. Residents who participated in the study said that they've had one drink in the past month, but weren't heavy drinkers. The disturbing news is that Chicago ranked in the top five for both binge drinkers and alcoholism. This should come as no surprise to anyone who's ever negotiated Lincoln Avenue after sunset. Or read some of the comments to our posts.
We need only look a hundred miles to the north to find the drunkest city in America. Milwaukee has the largest amount of drinkers and binge drinkers per capita, placed third in the heavy drinker and alcoholism categories, and has the fourth-most lenient state laws regarding alcohol sales and consumption. So, Forbes is basically saying that what made Milwaukee famous made losers out of Milwaukee.
The other cities in the top five are Minneapolis-St. Paul; Columbus, Ohio; Boston; and Austin. We expect to see the twin cities drop now that the Vikings have new ownership, and Boston to rise, if the Red Sox don't make the postseason. If you think your city deserves to be ranked high, belly up to the bar.
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can you tell us more about that photo? it's hilarious. was it staged or is that an actual grumpy old beggar?
Man, that's some stiff competition above us. I think we can take Austen, though, if we all believe in the dream!
Throw your old Less Than Jake or Social Distortion in the tape deck and let's rock! (Or should we turn this into a "best drinking music" thread?)
In my neighborhood, everyone is running down the street chanting, 'we're number six, we're number six!", with gigantic foam hands with 6 fingers.
i don't 'spose anyone's, you know, a tad alarmed that we're such boozehounds?
@ seth: that mental image just made my day.
love the google ads that accompany this piece. alcoholics anonymous, alcohol recovery, et al., priceless.
5 of the top 10 cities are in the Midwest. All in driving distance. I love it.
MJK- road trip?
lots of cold weather cities and college towns, unsurprisingly.
Wait until Daley finds out about this. He'll be after the rest of the corner taverns he's yet to close down. My personal rule, everything in moderation! (ok that was a rule my mom gave to me regarding ice cream, but it works with drinking too)
If the corner taverns really want to flirt with danger, they should serve foie gras, as well.
These ratings are a bit misleading since only large cities were looked at. I'm sure that Madison, Wisconin, where I used to live, would beat the crap out of Chicago in the area of per capita alcohol consumption.
Then go back to Madison with your size complex, SPD.
SPD, I'm pretty sure that Bloomington-Normal, Champaign-Urbana, Charleston, and especially Macomb would beat the crap out of Madison when it comes to per capita alcohol consumption. Of course towns with colleges will do that (not saying the Madison is just that, but let's be real). Seeing as Depaul, Loyola, and UIC make up just a fragment of the population of Chicago, your argument is moot.
Erik,
Baseball, Beer, and Binge drinking. A great reason to get behind the wheel.
My point is not moot. I don't have a link to the story available, but I read a report once that Wisconsin led the country in per capita alcohol consumption. The naming of Milwaukee as the most drunken city jibes with that. Also, the report said that Dane County, where Madison is located, was the most drunken county in Wisconsin. It's not simply the presence of the University that gives the city its high rate of alcholism. Drinking pervades the culture of that area, and the state of Wisconsin, more than it does here.
By the way, I've lived in Champaign-Urbana too. It doesn't compete with Madison when it comes to drinking.
Sounds like the only way to settle this dispute is.... DRINK OFF!!!!
Oh yeah, and as a UofC student, I can reasonably say that we are not contributing to the "college town" factor.
I competed with Madison once on Halloween.
...I lost.
As a UofC alum, I can say that I certainly contributed to the "drunken idiot arguing with a mugger" factor.
Actually, I contributed to all sorts of "drunken idiot" things. Not always down in Woodlawn and HP, though.
Fargo totally needs to be on the list. Nothing else to do when it's 40 below than drink.
Chuck:
I'm from Chicago, FYI. Grew up here, spent some years away after college, returned a few years ago.
Now go back to your scribbling with your I'm-such-a-hip-in-your-face-Chicagoist-staff-member 'tude.
I laugh at the sheltered definition of binge drinking.
I know that when I lived in Madison (way back in the day) and during my younger days in Chicago, six drinks was called "cutting back" "taking a break" or "Tuesday" but definitely not "binge drinking." You'd have to drink continuously for at least 48 hours to even hear the word "binge" uttered. Not that this was a healthy thing, mind you, just that these straight arrow researcher types have no idea what lurks beneath the surface of the drinking culture.
Chicagoist has turned into a frat house.
Frat house? I only wear one collared shirt at a time (company dress code), and the collar is defintiely not "popped."
Then again, we Maroons don't have the best idea of what a real frat house is like, anyway.
Oh yeah, spence, so unlike the sophisticated Parisian Salon it is normally.