Odd things about philly questions

[jman07]

Originally Posted by kyb01

Each state (and DC) has different laws wrt the distribution of alcohol. So there are 51 different laws. PA is one of the strictest.

Let me repeat myself again. If it is so strict, then Why can you buy liquor which is seen as more hardcore and not alchole in liquor stores.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by jman07

Let me repeat myself again. If it is so strict, then Why can you buy liquor which is seen as more hardcore and not alchole in liquor stores.

I would go as far as to say it's inertia. And it's been this way for decades and conservative "pennsyltuc-ians" run PA in Harrisburg.

[southbound_295]

Originally Posted by jman07

Let me repeat myself again. If it is so strict, then Why can you buy liquor which is seen as more hardcore and not alchole in liquor stores.

In Pennsylvania hard liquor is sold in State Stores. In North Carolina hard liquor is sold in ABC stores. It's called different laws in different states.

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by jman07

So they wanted to make buy alcohol more difficult. Still doesn't explain why you can't buy beer in most liquor stores but can get hard liquor which is viewed as a more hardcore alcohol. The laws are just senseless.

Most states treat beer and wine differently than hard spirits, even the ones where one can buy beer and wine in liquor stores. Usually there are more places where one can buy beer, or beer and wine, than hard spirits.

The District of Columbia, for instance, allows wine and beer sales in supermarkets but not liquor stores, while liquor is not sold in supermarkets. Pennsylvania just moved in this direction with Gov. Wolf's signing of a liquor liberalization bill.

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by NYtoNJtoPA

Yup, gotta love wikipedia for that one! Apparently there is even more that is not included here. I don't see Andalusia or Washington Crossing which are obvious places.

There are a few zcta's that cross several township boundaries on the Camden/Gloucester County line. Sicklerville is supposed to be entirely within Winslow Township AFAIK, but neighboring Gloucester Twp - which is still Camden County - includes an area called Erial which uses the same zip code, as well as a small portion of Washington in Gloucester County, namely the Fairmount development behind the car dealership on 42 as I used to know people who lived there, but I don't know if this immediate area has a name or anything.

Turnersville which is the bulk of Washington Twp has the same zip code as the Blackwood section of Gloucester Twp. And I think the rest of Washington uses the Sewell zip code and I think the area is called Hurffville, but Sewell is officially part of Mantua.

When I moved here in the 1980s, the Philadelphia SCF (191) included some territory beyond the city line. WCAU(-TV)'s studios on the Bala Cynwyd side of City Avenue, for instance, had a mailing address that concluded "Philadelphia, PA 19131". Rockledge Borough, just beyond Fox Chase, also had a Philadelphia ZIP code, as did some parts of Cheltenham Township.

All of these were shifted into the Outer Philadelphia SCF (190). The main reason? Auto insurance rates, which were determined by ZIP code at the time. Having an address outside Philadelphia meant an immediate reduction of car insurance rates by a significant amount.

[Wisertime]

Originally Posted by jman07

So they wanted to make buy alcohol more difficult. Still doesn't explain why you can't buy beer in most liquor stores but can get hard liquor which is viewed as a more hardcore alcohol. The laws are just senseless.

Leftover blue laws. Probably still active so business can collectively keep a stranglehold on their near monopolies. Beer is overpriced in PA. Liqour licenses are a premium and limited # too. Those cost a fortune. That's why so many BYOB.

[BPP1999]

Originally Posted by MarketStEl

Pennsylvania just moved in this direction with Gov. Wolf's signing of a liquor liberalization bill.

Yes but the governor is really stretching when he says he's liberalizing the rules. When wine, beer, and hard liquor are being sold at every supermarket, pharmacy, and gas station, at reasonable, market-driven prices, then and only then will the rules be liberalized.

Note: rules such as this exist in other states without significant hellfire and brimstone, and without harming "the children."

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by BPP1999

Yes but the governor is really stretching when he says he's liberalizing the rules. When wine, beer, and hard liquor are being sold at every supermarket, pharmacy, and gas station, at reasonable, market-driven prices, then and only then will the rules be liberalized.

Note: rules such as this exist in other states without significant hellfire and brimstone, and without harming "the children."

No, he's not stretching when he says that he's liberalizing the rules. The measurement here is relative to what was here before, not what other states have in place already.

Are they as liberal as those in other states? No. But they are more liberal than the rules that these replaced, so they are liberalization.

And truth to tell, I don't think there's a single state in the Union where you can get beer, wine and hard liquor at "every supermarket, pharmacy and gas station" at any price. Not even New York State or Louisiana.* Especially hard liquor. As I said upthread, most states don't allow distilled spirits to be as widely sold as fermented alcoholic beverages (wine and beer).

*Louisiana, however, does allow something most states don't, or at least it used to in the pre-MADD era: permit takeout windows at bars for liquor by the drink.

[MarketStEl]

By the way: The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board is the largest wholesale purchaser of wine and spirits in the country.

You would think that this buying power would mean lower prices for Pennsylvania imbibers. When Jonathan Newman was chair of the LCB in the early 2000s, it did mean lower prices for selected wines; Newman, an oenophile, jawboned wineries into selling large case lots of their good stuff to the PLCB at discount prices, which were then passed on to consumers in the form of the "Chairman's Selection" program, which has outlasted his tenure as chairman but with smaller discounts.

The reason it doesn't mean lower prices across the board is in part because there are hidden taxes baked into the shelf price rather than separated out like the state sales tax and local sales tax surcharges. Best-known of these is a tax enacted to help pay for flood cleanup in the wake of the 1938 Johnstown flood that has never been rescinded.