Anyone else still live in a "dry" town in the US?

[Sabine]

I honestly didn''t know they still existed until I moved here. So there are no bars in town, no restaurants that serve hard liquor, and no liquor stores that sell anything other than beer. Just recently there was a vote to modify the law (I''m not sure of the specifics) that allowed the bowling alley to open a bar.

Let me tell you, this law does not by ANY means keep the teenagers (or the adults for that matter, but that wasn''t the point) from getting drunk and getting in trouble.

What do you think of these type of laws? To me, it just reminds me how stuck in the past and close-minded a lot of the people in this small town are.

 

[ksinger]

Date: 3/1/2009 7:45:16 AM
Author:Sabine
I honestly didn''t know they still existed until I moved here. So there are no bars in town, no restaurants that serve hard liquor, and no liquor stores that sell anything other than beer. Just recently there was a vote to modify the law (I''m not sure of the specifics) that allowed the bowling alley to open a bar.

Let me tell you, this law does not by ANY means keep the teenagers (or the adults for that matter, but that wasn''t the point) from getting drunk and getting in trouble.

What do you think of these type of laws? To me, it just reminds me how stuck in the past and close-minded a lot of the people in this small town are.

Well, it''s been ages, and so I had to go check my facts. The most recent thing I found was a 2004 article.

Here in Oklahoma, (and I was surprised, truly) we do apparently still have dry counties. When I was growing up they had bottle bars - you BYOB (how freaky was that??) and the bar did the setups for the drinks, which you paid for. In 1985, and I remember this quite well, they gave each county the option to have "liquor by the drink". The populous counties like Oklahoma County (where Oklahoma City is) passed it in short order. I talked with the DH this morning and even he didn''t think there were dry counties left. But according to the 2004 article I found, apparently there ARE, with 37 of our 77 counties still dry. Who knew?

And in even weirder news, it used to be here, that 18 year old females could buy 3.2 beer, but males could not until 21. I seem to recall that that was changed by the time I got to college, but while I was there, in 1985, the laws changed again so that no one of either gender could enter a bar until they were 21. It didn''t impact me much, because a) I didn''t drink much, and b) I turned 21 a mere 2 months after the law passed. Voila! Problem solved. My buddies took me to Willies, a dive on "The Strip", (Willies is still there, and in a college town where bars change almost daily, that''s saying something) and plied me with more drinks than I should have had.

 

[Tuckins1]

Has anyone ever seen SLC Punk? It''s a great movie... It shows kids growing up in Salt Lake City, which is the religious hub of Utah/ Mormonism. These kids still find ways to get what they want, just like every other kid in the world!!!! I found ways to get liquor when I was under age... Kids are very smart, sneaky, and resourceful!!

 

[Lorelei]

Interesting, this was new to me living in the UK where pubs and bars abound.

 

[April20]

While I don''t live in a dry county, I do live in a state with blue laws, which means there are no liquor sales on Sunday. I find it rather interesting that such laws still exist. They have tried to repeal it several times and what''s really interesting is that the liquor store owners are usually the biggest opponents. They would mostly likely get only incremental sales increases since they are currently doing seven days of business in six. Opening that 7th day would require overhead costs and would not really add sales (those that rush in on Saturday to grab that last thing they need would be able to get it on Sunday, so the sales would most likely just shift).

I grew up in a dry county. You could get beer in the grocery store and that was it. People were SO opposed to opening liquor stores. That finally happened, but they still didn''t have liquor by the drink passed. The town is about a 30 minute drive from a larger town on the edge of one of the bigger cities in the state. What I saw for years was relatively stagnant growth in the city. People were driving the 30 mins to go to a decent restaurant and would take care of other business while there. The money wasn''t spent in town, so the growth was stunted. They passed liquor by the drink about 8 years ago. Growth in the town has EXPLODED. They have several chain restaurants (which there equals "decent" and "nicer") but have also had many other businesses move in. The population has also increased. It has not increased teen alcohol intake and/or trouble to my knowledge. Kids are still getting it the same way they always have.

 

[elrohwen]

I have a co-worker who recently lived in a dry county in Kentucky. He''s a huuuge drinker (and was right out of college at the time), so he hated living there. He said the law was pointless because people either (a) drove somewhere else to drink, then did a lot of drunk driving to get home or (b) just did meth (or other drugs) instead. Lol. So yeah, probably not the most effective law.

 

[April20]

Date: 3/1/2009 10:27:27 AM
Author: elrohwen
I have a co-worker who recently lived in a dry county in Kentucky. He''s a huuuge drinker (and was right out of college at the time), so he hated living there. He said the law was pointless because people either (a) drove somewhere else to drink, then did a lot of drunk driving to get home or (b) just did meth (or other drugs) instead. Lol. So yeah, probably not the most effective law.

I went to college in Kentucky. If they couldn''t drive to get liquor, they just made their own. That stuff is nasty!!!!! I saw more overdrinking while in Kentucky than anywhere else I''ve lived.

 

[Sabine]

I should''ve probably included that I live in central PA. I grew up near Pittsburgh, so I was really surprised at just how "rural" the rest of the state can be!

 

[OUpearlgirl]

Date: 3/1/2009 8:42:41 AM
Author: ksinger

Date: 3/1/2009 7:45:16 AM

And in even weirder news, it used to be here, that 18 year old females could buy 3.2 beer, but males could not until 21. I seem to recall that that was changed by the time I got to college, but while I was there, in 1985, the laws changed again so that no one of either gender could enter a bar until they were 21. It didn''t impact me much, because a) I didn''t drink much, and b) I turned 21 a mere 2 months after the law passed. Voila! Problem solved. My buddies took me to Willies, a dive on ''The Strip'', (Willies is still there, and in a college town where bars change almost daily, that''s saying something) and plied me with more drinks than I should have had.

Ahhh.. so you went to that other school..

 

[Octavia]

I went to a small college outside Philly, and it was not in a dry town. However, the next town over is a semi-dry town (I think it was completely dry back then; now there is a state store, but still no bars or restaurants that serve alcohol), and houses a much larger university that's known for some partying ways. It caused a lot of issues because the pubs near my college were the closest ones for the other kids, too, and they would come down the road and cause all kinds of havoc. Also, as soon as they could live off-campus, they would rent apartments near the bars (and our campus) and would hassle people who walked by at night. Not to mention the other, more disgusting things they did. Since it's less than a mile between campuses, it really didn't inconvenience the other students much...but it was really annoying for us.

 

[Italiahaircolor]

Wheaton Illinois is a dry down. It''s a suburb about 30 minutes outside of Chicago. It also ranks as having the largest population of churches in Illinois.

 

[Deelight]

Date: 3/1/2009 10:00:35 AM
Author: Lorelei
Interesting, this was new to me living in the UK where pubs and bars abound.

News to me as well, there are bars a plenty here to in OZ.

 

[oobiecoo]

The town where DH''s parents live is "dry" (only about 20 minutes from here). It''s about a 15 minute drive if you want any type of alcohol. Its annoying...

 

[cbs102]

Sabine,I am confised- i thought that you lived in Hershey? there are bars in hershey.

 

[Sabine]

You''re right, cbs, I DO live in Hershey...but I work and spend lots of time in the next town over (not going to name since most people know I teach there, etc.) so that is the town I was referring to.

 

[ksinger]

Date: 3/1/2009 5:06:49 PM
Author: OUpeargirl

Date: 3/1/2009 8:42:41 AM
Author: ksinger

Date: 3/1/2009 7:45:16 AM

And in even weirder news, it used to be here, that 18 year old females could buy 3.2 beer, but males could not until 21. I seem to recall that that was changed by the time I got to college, but while I was there, in 1985, the laws changed again so that no one of either gender could enter a bar until they were 21. It didn''t impact me much, because a) I didn''t drink much, and b) I turned 21 a mere 2 months after the law passed. Voila! Problem solved. My buddies took me to Willies, a dive on ''The Strip'', (Willies is still there, and in a college town where bars change almost daily, that''s saying something) and plied me with more drinks than I should have had.

Ahhh.. so you went to that other school..

Well, of COURSE. Is there anywhere else to GO?

It really was a bunch smaller back then though. I was up there last year and almost didn''t recognize the place.

 

[cbs102]

Sabine, I live 3 towns over from you and its dry there. from what my fi tells me, it was not always like that- but this group of church women went on the war path about the town being dry. its annoying plain and simple!

 

[monarch64]

You can''t buy alcohol here on Sundays...unless you''re in a restaurant/bar. I never have understood why this law is still in effect.
I lived in KY for a few months, in a dry county. The ironic thing was that we would drive to the next county and buy beer from the DRIVE THROUGH lane at the liquor store. Yup.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Dry towns in the US? I''d never even heard of such a thing. How do people survive living like that???

There are loads of liquor stores where I live and some are even open on Sundays! We even live by a couple microbreweries!!! lol

 

[OUpearlgirl]

Date: 3/2/2009 7:49:35 AM
Author: ksinger

Date: 3/1/2009 5:06:49 PM

Author: OUpeargirl

Date: 3/1/2009 8:42:41 AM

Author: ksinger

Date: 3/1/2009 7:45:16 AM

And in even weirder news, it used to be here, that 18 year old females could buy 3.2 beer, but males could not until 21. I seem to recall that that was changed by the time I got to college, but while I was there, in 1985, the laws changed again so that no one of either gender could enter a bar until they were 21. It didn''t impact me much, because a) I didn''t drink much, and b) I turned 21 a mere 2 months after the law passed. Voila! Problem solved. My buddies took me to Willies, a dive on ''The Strip'', (Willies is still there, and in a college town where bars change almost daily, that''s saying something) and plied me with more drinks than I should have had.

Ahhh.. so you went to that other school..

Well, of COURSE. Is there anywhere else to GO?

It really was a bunch smaller back then though. I was up there last year and almost didn''t recognize the place.

It''s a really beautiful campus. My dad went there and my oldest sister went to vet school there! We''re definitely a house divided.

 

[iwannaprettyone]

Yes. I think it is ridicolous that men can grab a 6 pack at the store but I can''t get a glass of wine. ei ei ei, luckily the next town is only 15 mins from here.

 

[tlh]

What? You are telling me prohibition DIDN''T work?

 

[kcoursolle]

Nope, definitely not. Here in LA you can buy anything, from anywhere, at anytime LOL! I think dry laws are pretty outdated and I wouldn''t want to live there, but at the same time I suppose there is a town for everyone...