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Why are we excluding Vegas??? I really don't think the resident population living there are going to be alcoholics any more than another city out west. That's very odd to exclude it.
I've always read the Midwest leads in alcohol consumption, so maybe there? From quickly googling binge drinking and alcohol consumption it looks like the New England states are high along with Wisconsin and Illinois.
My guess would be: Milwaukee, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, NYC, Boston, Miami, and probably somewhere like Dallas or Houston. By percentage, then you'd have to include places in Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, etc. People in the midwest love to drink..
I must say, I'm still amazed at the amount of alcohol consumption in Milwaukee (and Wisconsin in general) and I've lived here my whole life. I'm sure some of it has to do with not being a huge drinker myself, but I still can't get over the fact that almost every major activity has some element of drinking involved. Want to go to a game? Alright, let's get there 4 hours early to tailgate and get wasted. *Completely drunk after game* I NEED A DRINK!! SOMEONE GET ME TO THE BAR!! Summerfest/other events and festivals? We need to be completely hammered before we take the bus down there...and don't forget beer money. Coaching a little league game? Got my cooler of pepsi cans filled with beer. Going on a little trip with some friends? Need to plan out where to pick up liquor/beer and make sure we're drunk by 11am. Oh look who's sober over here...what's wrong with this guy?? /rant
Yeah, I guess I'm a little bitter about it but that's just the culture here. Alcohol plays a huge role in the lives of almost everyone I know...all types of people. Anytime there's a mention of Milwaukee being the drunkest city in America, the crowd goes wild. I love the city and the people are usually very friendly, but it's tough to fit in as a casual or non-drinker when its so central to every social event.
Why are we excluding Vegas??? I really don't think the resident population living there are going to be alcoholics any more than another city out west. That's very odd to exclude it.
I've always read the Midwest leads in alcohol consumption, so maybe there? From quickly googling binge drinking and alcohol consumption it looks like the New England states are high along with Wisconsin and Illinois.
Las Vegas has really two city feel the strip base on tourism and crime and stuff that only happen on the strip and crime and stuff what happens in the city excluding the strip.
I'm not saying some of the local folks don't go to bars ,casino ,strip cubs so on but for proper view you have to count both to get better idea what it is like in Las Vegas.
I would tend to think it's in the Midwest or Northeast. Going by different lists some possibilities are
Fresno, CA: MensHealth.com - Fresno, California. Their's is based on a combination of liver-disease, DUI-related deaths, DUI arrests, binge drinking, and laws. Although they weren't number one on any factor. The ones they have as number one for varied factors look to be
Deaths in DUI crashes - Lubbock, Texas was number 1.
Deaths from liver disease - Bakersfield, California was number 1.
DUI arrests - Nashville, Tennessee was number 1.
Binge drinking - Toledo, Ohio was number 1.
Although for alcoholism itself they put 16th ranked Kansas City as highest. Other factors they used were general drinking, binge drinking, and heavy drinking. Milwaukee was highest on binge though, but San Antonio, Texas highest on what they deemed "heavy drinking."
There might be others too. A difficulty with some of these is they may have to deal with who gets caught or who gets treatment. A city where the alcoholics don't seek treatment might end up low on some of these as might a city relatively reluctant to arrest drunk drivers.
Lewis Black has me convinced Milwaukee has the most alcoholics in the US by far. I would think New Orleans would be up there also.
I had to look this Lewis Black up when you mentioned him. Yeah, his skit on Wisconsin/Milwaukee is pretty funny. Like all comedy today, probably built on exaggerations, but yeah... I suppose there is some grain of truth in it.
His youtube video I watched is titled: Lewis Black | Drinking in Wisconsin
Quote:
Originally Posted by T0103E
I must say, I'm still amazed at the amount of alcohol consumption in Milwaukee (and Wisconsin in general) and I've lived here my whole life. I'm sure some of it has to do with not being a huge drinker myself, but I still can't get over the fact that almost every major activity has some element of drinking involved. Want to go to a game? Alright, let's get there 4 hours early to tailgate and get wasted. *Completely drunk after game* I NEED A DRINK!! SOMEONE GET ME TO THE BAR!! Summerfest/other events and festivals? We need to be completely hammered before we take the bus down there...and don't forget beer money. Coaching a little league game? Got my cooler of pepsi cans filled with beer. Going on a little trip with some friends? Need to plan out where to pick up liquor/beer and make sure we're drunk by 11am. Oh look who's sober over here...what's wrong with this guy?? /rant
Yeah, I guess I'm a little bitter about it but that's just the culture here. Alcohol plays a huge role in the lives of almost everyone I know...all types of people. Anytime there's a mention of Milwaukee being the drunkest city in America, the crowd goes wild. I love the city and the people are usually very friendly, but it's tough to fit in as a casual or non-drinker when its so central to every social event.
My cousin and our friend after living in Phoenix, Arizona for years and moving back to Milwaukee, said they are amazed at how lenient the Milwaukee police are with drinking and driving.
The one thing I do love about Milwaukee with respects to drinking, is that even the cops drive drunk off duty, and they seem to not be "d__ks" towards the average Joe and Jane driving while a bit drunk. I remember one night I was driving from a bar with my friend. The paddy wagon threw on its lights. I felt dejection because I knew I was so drunk there was no way I could pass a sobriety test. Plus, it was night and my back lights were out, plus my license plates were expired, plus my drivers license were expired.
When the cop came to my window he said, "Now we let you drive through one red light but you had to drive through a second red light. Where are you in such a rush to get to?"
My response"
"We're trying to get to a club on the other side of town."
LOL!
He rain my license for warrants. I was clean so he let me go. And I know he could smell the alcohol on my breath because I had been drinking all day and night.
And I'm black and male. And this cop was white.
I've gotten less hassle from Milwaukee cops drinking and driving and with expired plates than I have driving sober and legal through suburban white areas outside Milwaukee.
Although for alcoholism itself they put 16th ranked Kansas City as highest. Other factors they used were general drinking, binge drinking, and heavy drinking. Milwaukee was highest on binge though, but San Antonio, Texas highest on what they deemed "heavy drinking."
There might be others too. A difficulty with some of these is they may have to deal with who gets caught or who gets treatment. A city where the alcoholics don't seek treatment might end up low on some of these as might a city relatively reluctant to arrest drunk drivers.
I don't know how much weight I put on articles like Forbe's "Drunkest Cities." They are fun articles but I'm not sure how reflective of truth they are.
As you accurately pointed out, if a town goes through a period were fewer alcoholics are seeking treatment than the alcoholics in another city, that will skew things.
And while alcoholism is not the same as binge drinking and heavy drinking I would think there is a medical correlation between those things. A young cousin of mine I've heard, has been told by doctors that if he keeps drinking the way he is that he won't live much longer.
Then again... my grandfather that retired from a Milwaukee brewery as alcoholic and usually drunk every time I saw him throughout my life but he lived to be in his 90s. His wife--my grandmother--was alcoholic too and died from complications related to her years of drinking. I remember as a child they used to have several cases of beer stacked up in their back hallway. My grandfather would get cases of beer every end of the week he got paid. My grandmother on my other side of my family was alcoholic after she started drinking heavy to deal with one of her son's schizophrenia.
I must say, I'm still amazed at the amount of alcohol consumption in Milwaukee (and Wisconsin in general) and I've lived here my whole life. I'm sure some of it has to do with not being a huge drinker myself, but I still can't get over the fact that almost every major activity has some element of drinking involved. Want to go to a game? Alright, let's get there 4 hours early to tailgate and get wasted. *Completely drunk after game* I NEED A DRINK!! SOMEONE GET ME TO THE BAR!! Summerfest/other events and festivals? We need to be completely hammered before we take the bus down there...and don't forget beer money. Coaching a little league game? Got my cooler of pepsi cans filled with beer. Going on a little trip with some friends? Need to plan out where to pick up liquor/beer and make sure we're drunk by 11am. Oh look who's sober over here...what's wrong with this guy?? /rant
Yeah, I guess I'm a little bitter about it but that's just the culture here. Alcohol plays a huge role in the lives of almost everyone I know...all types of people. Anytime there's a mention of Milwaukee being the drunkest city in America, the crowd goes wild. I love the city and the people are usually very friendly, but it's tough to fit in as a casual or non-drinker when its so central to every social event.
All of this is totally true. When I moved here back in the late 1980s, I was just shocked to see how much people here in Milwaukee drink. They don't drink to relax, unwind or have a good time, they drink to get totally wasted. I have met people here that consider getting a DUI a badge of honor and something to be proud of. It amazes me to see the number of people that I have met over the years that have multiple DUI's on their record. Milwaukee and Wisconsin in general do have a very serious problem with drunk driving.
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