New Orleans ranks at 21st drunkest city in the nation

Despite the inebriation associated with the past month’s festivities in New Orleans, the city failed to break the top 20 in a recent list of America’s drunkest cities.

Men’s Health Magazine ranked New Orleans as the 21st drunkest city in the country, trailing behind cities such as Fresno, Calif.; Reno, Nev. and Billings, Mont.

To compile the list of America’s drunkest cities, Men’s Health Magazine defined a set of alcohol-related criteria including death rates from alcoholic liver disease, booze-fueled car crashes, frequency of binge drinking in the past month, number of DUI arrests and severity of DUI penalties. Based on these parameters, the magazine gave the cities grades in terms of overall sobriety. The grade spectrum ranged from A+ — most sober — to F — least sober. The study found that Fresno was the drunkest city in America while Boston was the least drunk.

Several people were surprised by New Orleans’ relatively low ranking given the prevalence of alcohol in the city. Sociology professor Stephen Ostertag commented on the pervasiveness of alcohol that he has seen since moving to New Orleans. Ostertag noticed a big distinction between the alcohol culture here and that of his previous home in Connecticut where beer cannot be purchased on Sundays or after 9 p.m.

“They serve beer at my [nine-year-old] son’s soccer game,” Ostertag said. “[At] almost every adult [and] parent event I’ve gone to, the family has a full cooler with beer and alcohol.”

Freshman Michael Lewis anticipated that New Orleans would rank higher in the Men’s Health article given the city’s boozy reputation.

“It surprises me that New Orleans is No. 21, seeing as a good chunk of the tourism is about alcohol, and we’re the home of the drive-through daiquiri,” Lewis said.

Freshman Jason Winikoff expressed similar surprise at New Orleans ranking 21st in drunkenness. Winikoff thought that New Orleans and Las Vegas should be ranked first and second, respectively.

“I really have no problem with this ranking because alcohol, not necessarily in a bad way, is such a big part of New Orleans’ lifestyle,” Winikoff said. “So what if people tend to enjoy a drink or 10 every now and then?”

Lewis, who lives in close proximity to America’s drunkest city, Fresno, said that the drinking culture and motivation for getting drunk are different in New Orleans than they are elsewhere.

“[In] a place like Fresno, people are clearly drinking because they are depressed about living in Fresno,” Lewis said. “Whereas here, people drink in a more positive way.”