America's No. 2 drunkest city?:
Where is the second-drunkest city in America?
Chances are you are living in it--according to Forbes Magazine, at least. The Minneapolis-St. Paul area is surpassed only by Milwaukee in the magazine's first-ever "drunkest cities" evaluation.
Ewalt said he used a combination of government statistics from 2004 measuring rates of alcoholism, binge drinking, Alcoholics Anonymous participation and other figures.
He was surprised to see Milwaukee and the Twin Cities besting notorious party areas such as New Orleans (ranked 24th) and Las Vegas (No. 14).
"You go to New Orleans or Las Vegas, and they are very liberal about alcohol. You can drink beer on the streets," he said. "To a tourist, they can seem like very drunk towns."
It's likely, he said, that the pattern of drinking in Minnesota is more private.
While most residents of the Twin Cities will no doubt react to such news with civic pride, a few of our local prudish, panty-waisted public officials seem ashamed of the well-earned distinction:
"It seems like that survey is a bit of a stretch," said Bob Hume, spokesman for St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman.
Hume said that only two months ago, Kiplinger's Magazine ranked the Twin Cities metro area second in its "Smart Places to Live" survey.
"The criteria there were vibrant, fun, affordable," Hume said. "Enjoy our recreational opportunities responsibly."
As wet rags like Bob tut-tut and preach to the citizenry about the proper way to have fun, the rest of us are getting loaded. Responsibly loaded. Just wait 'til next year.
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