Cullman-Anything fun to do? (living in, costs, stores)

[Keeper]

I can tell you 'religion' plays a big part in towns being dry now a days. In order to be put on the ballot you have to have a certain percentage of registered voters sign a petition for it to be voted on. If it fails you have to wait 2 years before you can try again to get it on the ballot.

Two years ago when it was on the ballot in Arab, there was an organized group who touted the evils of alcohol. Called ppl on the phone, placed ads in the paper and sent out mass mailings. How teens would be affected by drinking alcohol if it was allowed and last but not least all the DUIs. Of course, you can drive 10 miles down the road to Guntersville to buy alcohol or go to bars and then drive back up the mountain to get home, but no one ever does that!!!

It lost by 16 votes last time, but it is on the ballot again in Nov. You can't get 'name' restaurants if you don't allow alcohol. The only name restaurant that showed any interest wanted huge incentives to open here.

Guess you can tell which way I am voting.

[financelife]

Cullman is an upstanding city to try and keep morals in their area. They are doing it with good intentions, and it doesn't really hurt anybody, so why are people against it. Get your liquor in Guntersville then.

[DvlsAdvc8]

Originally Posted by deesonic

I love beer by the way...

Top notch post!

Looks like I have a pet issue to work towards. Has Alabama ever tried to handle this at the state level in recent years?

I can't imagine this is actually popular... is it???

[Southlander]

Originally Posted by deesonic

The way I understand it, the 21st Amendment left it up to the states to deal with alcohol laws. Alabama essentially allows counties to decide. But there is some weird law on the books that incorporated towns...can decide for themselves.

Up until 1983, counties were either TOTALLY dry or TOTALLY wet. The ENTIRE county had to vote to stay dry or go wet. So you had cities which were ready to go wet continually voted down by the county residents. Decatur was, at one time, the biggest dry city in the country.
FINALLY, Decatur's legislators, along with other allies, got a bill through that allowed the "city option" - that is, an incorporated city within a dry county could vote to go wet.
I can't tell you how very weird I felt seeing a beer truck in Decatur for the first time!

Originally Posted by deesonic

It's really up to the local counties to change their own blue laws. We're one of only a handful of states that does not handle blue laws at the state level.

Don't forget that the state of Alabama is in the liquor business. ALL liquor sales are through the state. Restaurants and bars have to buy their liquor through the state stores - and there is no wholesale price for them.

Originally Posted by deesonic

City of Decatur does not allow draft beer (or draught depending where you're from) (Decatur now DOES allow draft beer) ...This is why Alabama has very few brewpubs. I can only think of a couple off hand: Montgomery Brewing and the Olde Auburn Ale House. (I think a new one has opened in Birmingham; there was one in Tuscaloosa but I think it's now closed - I could be wrong)

Originally Posted by deesonic

It's all a load of BS.

I respectfully disagree. I think a population should decide for themselves.

[deesonic]

Originally Posted by financelife

Cullman is an upstanding city to try and keep morals in their area. They are doing it with good intentions, and it doesn't really hurt anybody, so why are people against it. Get your liquor in Guntersville then.

It's about individual rights. I'm a libertarian at heart and don't believe that any group of people should be able to legislate and force their morals on individuals who disagree. Because I'm a responsible adult who wants to enjoy a beer. So it's acceptable to just tell people to hop in their cars and drive to Guntersville on $4/gallon gas, drink, and drive home? Do you realize how far Cullman is from Guntersville? I think there's closer places than Guntersville actually, but that's not the point. Prohibition hurts the local economy because many restaurants and businesses won't do business in towns where they can't sell alcohol. But I guess under the laws of our state if there's enough people in Cullman who want to cling to backwards and archaic laws, then that's there business.

Funny, this discussion is in a thread about Cullman. My wife and I went to Cullman to hang out with a friend last night. We rolled into downtown Cullman around 7pm and the sidewalks were rolled up. There is no real life in that town after 5pm. We ate at some small pizza place but I wasn't overly impressed with it. It would've gone down easier with a nice Sam Adams. But I will say that Cullman is a pretty town with lots of nice historic homes. But I felt like I was in that town from the movie 'Footloose.'

Originally Posted by Southlander

I respectfully disagree. I think a population should decide for themselves.

Well that begs the question what defines a population? Most states blanket the state with fairly uniform laws regarding alcohol sales.

[Katsmeeyow]

Forgive me if I ask a question that has already been answered, but I didn't see it. When you use the term "dry", does that mean no alcohol sales at all? Beer, Wine, Liquor? Or just liquor? Decatur is wet. Does that mean they sell beer wine and liquor? Thanks!

[Southlander]

Right. In Alabama, if you're dry, you're TOTALLY dry - no wine, beer or spirits.

[Katsmeeyow]

Thanks! So, with that being said, for a place like Decatur to be referred to as "wet", then can I safely assume that Decatur sells beer, wine and liquor?

[deesonic]

Yeah, but for a few locations the entire state is dry on Sunday.

[Katsmeeyow]

Thanks for the info!