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Do you know of an area or event in your city where open container laws don't apply?
There are eight identified districts in the US that allow it. Per wikipedia:
Quote:
There are a few public places in the United States where open containers are always permitted in the street:
The city of Butte, Montana, has no open container ordinance. Because Montana also has no statewide public open container law, drinking openly in the street is allowed throughout the city.[2] A recent attempt to pass a comprehensive open container ordinance in Butte met with widespread opposition and was dropped.[3] Butte does, however, ban open containers in vehicles.
In the Power & Light District of Kansas City, Missouri, a special Missouri state law[4] preempts Kansas City's ordinary local law against open containers[5] and allows the possession and consumption of alcoholic beverages on the street in open plastic containers.[6] Although Missouri has no statewide open container law, the Power & Light District remains the only part of Kansas City where open containers are allowed actually on the street, and throughout the rest of Kansas City, open containers remain expressly prohibited.
On the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada, the law allows the possession and consumption on the street of any alcoholic beverage in an open container throughout the year, although the container must be plastic for certain special events such as the 4th of July and New Year's Eve.[7] Because Nevada has no statewide public open container law, local law governs. Although open containers usually are allowed throughout the rest of Las Vegas, they are prohibited at certain times of the year, except in the Strip.[7]
The entertainment district along Beale Street in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee, is specially exempt from both Tennessee's statewide open container ban and Memphis's local open container ban, thereby permitting the open consumption of alcoholic beverages on the street.
The city of New Orleans, Louisiana allows the possession and consumption on the street of any alcoholic beverage in an open plastic container (not in glass bottles or containers). Throughout the rest of Louisiana, however, open containers are still prohibited, despite the fact that drive-thru frozen daiquiri stands are legal.[8]
In the Savannah Historic District of Downtown Savannah, Georgia, city law allows possession and consumption on the street of one alcoholic beverage in an open plastic container of not more than 16 ounces.[9] Because Georgia has no state public open container law, the city law governs. Throughout the rest of Savannah, however, open containers remain prohibited.
The small German town of Fredericksburg, Texas allows open containers of beer or wine (no liquor) in its Main street shopping district.
The city of Hood River, Oregon, has no open container ordinance.[10]Oregon statewide open container laws only pertain to vehicles.[11]
During the FL-GA football game, Jacksonville police obviously look the other way, allowing open containers throughout downtown and the sports district. During the downtown Art Walk on the first Wednesday of each month, this also seems to be true although it's not very blatant at all.
What about in your area? I'm curious but I'm not an alcoholic, I swear!
Location: Baghdad by the Bay (San Francisco, California)
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Open container laws are usually aimed at giving cops a reason to roust drunks and homeless people in parks and on sidewalks and for keeping broken glass to a minimum. In most cities, if you are not being an ass, no one is going to look twice at you for having a bottle of wine in the park, provided you do your drinking out of plastic. I have a picnic basket with plastic stemware and an insulated compartment for wine. I do this all the time.
Beer bottles in the park don't really get any attention either, except at special events like 4th of July, when police are really focused on keeping it all on lock down. Cans and plastic are okay.
That's really the thing. The law seems to be more against glass than it is against alcohol. Only someone drunk and potentially disorderly will get much attention here. Even open weed smoking on the street is allowed here, though I'd assume a glass bong would be forbidden. I have seen people with elaborate 4' tall hookah pipes in the park in the middle of the day and the odor was clearly weed.
Wine in the park I can see, although I had a very low key picnic in Chicago once and an officer came over and threatened a citation if I didn't close the beer cooler and put it away in a vehicle. Was very surprised by this...there were maybe 5 of us and no one else around and we weren't even close to getting drunk.
But what I'm really wondering about is where folks can bar hop, and take open containers along the street from venue to venue. I don't think this is generally tolerated in most cities.
Location: Baghdad by the Bay (San Francisco, California)
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In San Francisco, you would have been fine. nobody would haVe given you a second look. as far as service "to go" you would have a lot more difficulty. In Houston, the way the alcohol sales licenses go, an ice house can sell you an open beer to go. This also applies to places like La Carafe, which is a beer/wine only bar. You can get a Solo cup of wine to go and drink it on the street, if that's what you want. I have done just that, countless times.
Las Vagas and New Orleans you can drink in public but most other cities it is offense to drink alcohol in public.
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