Fresno Famous

I've always wanted to try

I've always wanted to try absinthe, just out of curiousity. Though the rumors of it causing you to go insane are rather exaggerated.

Though my drink of choice is Jager.

Scotch

Scotch,, Scotch, Scotch, I love Scotch!

Mmmmmm!

Its just so good, when hits my throat I just can't stop!

Here comes tank!

Hmmm...

I think I know the people that put us over the top...

hmmm, lotsa factors there...

In fact?
My drift on the general issue was 'yeah we're big drinkers, compared to other places this article says we're in the top ten, (so what?,) -and where do you like to go drink?
(I'm not exactly sensing a lot of 'gee we got a problem here, fresno,' I'm sensing more of a 'I'll drink to that!' kind of tone, (but I could be completely wrong there... doubt it, but hey, you never know.)

Regarding the whole Salt Lake outscoring Raleigh-Duraham...
-Not quite sure how to say this, but Just because a city has a lot of one type of religious affiliation (noted for conservative abstainance on substances and alch.)
Doesn't mean that everybody is really abstainant.

-It's kind of an interesting study, -but often in areas where the pressure is greater, (and the rules 'prohibit,' one behavior or another, ---or it's a situation where there is lots of pressure to adhere to a code (through life,)
--the stress can cause folks to snap a bit more severely,
(Kind of like that line in Wonderboys:
'...Yeah, my mom was a dancer, bars, bowling alleys, strip clubs, pretty much anywhere they'd ask her to dance, she'd dance.'
'-but I thought you told me she was a strict Catholic?'
'-Well, she was, but when we fall, we fall HARD.'

Sometimes making something harder to get, -just makes it more desirable.

The 'blue laws,' and liquor store laws in some states, towns, and counties back east are pretty severe, -and the whole 'inability,' to buy alch. in some stores, --or even some appliances and such on some days is a bit of a throw-back.

What I do find kind of interesting, (always have,) is how (wheras in NY, NJ, PA. Conn. (etc.) it's pretty much known if you get behind the wheel of a car drunk, you're going to jail, -Out here there are billboards that say
'Buzzed Driving IS Drunk Driving.'
(It's kind of like seeing a billboard that says 'Hey, remember, a lit stove burner is hot.')

I think another situation (not knowing if it is a regional thing or not,) is how 'Beer and Wine,' are not really considered as alchohol, how alchohol is not really seen as 'a drug.'

Not sure if it's on this string or another, but out here, there IS this attitude of 'well, I'm a little tipsy, or have had enough to drink, -I need to take my chances and make my way home.'
-Like, the only one who is going to be affected (by a persons own diminshed abilities) is them or their car.
-And a cop who busts them is 'giving them a hard time,
-when they were simply trying to make their way home.'

You don't hear of it in terms of how many people get killed each year by drunk drivers, (and how the drunk driver, because they were relaxed, walked away with practically no injuries.)

I Don't Think

I don't think anybody is saying Fresno doesn't have a drunk driving problem. I just wonder about the methodology in finding the rankings as suspect especially Salt Lake City with a high Mormon population being worse then Durham, NC?
I do think having a good mass transit system allows you to drink more and not worry about driving later. I would like to see the study broken down a bit more to rank the cities according to how aggressive the police department is in targeting DUIs and factoring in mass transit vs cities without. The entire West Coast is represented on the D+ or worse category except for San Jose , Riverside and Anaheim. Could it be the high reliance on the auto that skews the results for the West Coast? The study also mentions it varies according to state laws as to how strict they are on when and where alcohol can be bought. I can remember being in Rochester N.Y. and not being able to buy beer in a liquor store but had to go to the grocery store and not being able to buy hard liquor in the grocery store.

The fact that Men's Health magazine is sponsoring the study doesn't lend much credence in the study.

oh wow

that's just not good at all...

I was looking at the whole article, and noticed something that (again,) reflects some other factors.)

-The site Jersey City as being relatively low on the drunk scale.
(not sure if they had hoboken in there,)
-both of them are just a train or ferry stop from NYC (right across the river.) A lot of young urbanites (and a huge crossection of cultures,) live in both towns. (They butt right up against each other.)

Hoboken (downtown,) is practically a giant party town, ---but everything is walking distance and/or serviced by trains, busses, and taxi's.

-They also are 'stop off,' points for the major transportation to outlying areas (such as South and North Jersey -even Pennsylvania,)
-so there may be a ton of people going through there, -but even the ones that are drunk, -are either making it home on foot (or in a cab,) or getting on a train headed home that way.

Though it's no fun being on a train full of drunks (they run extra trains during the holidays and during NY eve,
also the 'last trains,' (which leave after midnight, are just chock full o pukers,) are no picnic,
--but at least these folks aren't driving.
-If folks had better mass transpo, maybe they'd just take a train home, (rather than drive?)

But 60%, no WONDER they went to the bone on drunk drivers.

DUIs were only one factor

DUIs were only one factor considered. They also looked at the percentage of fatal accidents caused by intoxication and other factors.

But I don't buy the argument that Fresno's arrests skewed the numbers. Could it be that Fresno had to increase the enforcement precisely because drunk driving was a bigger problem here? It's a bit unfair to cities lack much public transportation, but most cities lack reliable public transportation. I've lived in many major areas in the country and Fresno seems to be the worst about tolerating drunk driving. People here have a much more devil-may-care attitude about getting behind the wheel after a few drinks. I've even heard the ads on the radio about the tow truck that will pick you and your car up from the bar. But my question is, why did you drive to a bar and the proceed to act so irresponsibly that you needed a ride home? But I digress...

I can remember stats about 15 years ago that something like 60% of the drivers on Fresno streets after 10 pm were legally drunk. That's just scary...

...despite being a big lebowski fan

this NewYorker does not bowl...
(well, there was those couple of years in highschool...)
We are suckers for good restaurants, decent housing, good transportation, good wages, and clean air. (...allow me to switch tracks.)

I echo the sentiments of 'brattybrat,'

--but also wonder where the stats are coming from.

The other conclusion would be:

If this is based upon DUI busts?
-Fresno has a lot of DUI stings and arrests
(they are of REAL drunk people, I'm assuming?,)
-so, that's a real problem.

Other towns may have 'less arrests,' of people who are still driving under the influence.
(So their problem would be that they a.) have drunk drivers but b.) do not go after their drunk drivers,
-so their problem is lack of enforcement too.

But how does a 'reputation' founded upon (real) drunk drivers being caught, (who are really drunk, and extremely dangerous,) get miscast as 'fictional hype?'

Are we THAT image concious that all we see is
'...other places are just as bad, or worse than us, so the attention is not fair.'
It's all about 'Fresno's Image,' compared to other images?
(IE beauty contest????.)

-On THIS issue?, yeah, you know what?
Fresno is a double-bag date.
-If it's based upon real FACTS of how many drunks get pulled over per year?
Fresno is not only a 'double-bagger,' -but a deadly one at that.

When you go out, and you get hit and injured, (or killed,) or one of your family is hit, injured, (or killed,) by a drunken (Fresno) driver,
are you going to say
'...Well, I'm sure other towns have their DUI issues just as much as here, it's not fair to get all worked up that my _______ got killed by a drunk driver.'
-I don't want to even use that as a reference point, because I know people here who have had that already happen.

I myself was nearly head-on'd by a drunk driver (who had just plowed a family of 5, -and I hadn't been living here six months, the guy (and his girlfriend,) walked away, after veering off into a tree, the family in the toyota had it basically broken in half.)

Who CARES what other towns are doing?
-we need to pay attention to our own issues, and deal with them.
(We're racking up quite the national image:
-'The town that can't take a joke.'
-'The town that can't take care of it's homeless (so one digs beneath a house, and winds up on national TV)'
-'The town that can't take a breathalyzer test.'

It Reminds Me of Another Study

It reminds me of the other study years ago that had Fresno last among all cities in America. The criteria was based on what New Yorkers looked for in a town. Fresno did poorly in how many bowling alleys we had per capita. I like bowling but I think the results were skewed by what activities can you do inside when it is snowing and cold etc. New York and other cold weather cities would have the customers to warrant a lot of bowling alleys where warm-weather cities would prefer more pools etc.
This study seems to be similar in it is not the best written study.

i heart stats

pretty lame study. how do you say we have the most drunks based on arrests for dui? i mean, sure, we probably have a lot of people drinking here, but just because other towns suck at arresting drunk drivers doesn't mean they're not out there.

why not check into things like: per capita % of bars, liquor stores, etc?

That is really sad

That is a title one should be ashamed to have. I think the way the police do the check-points and the bar stings is great. I don't mind the checks, if you have nothing to hide you'll be fine.
Drunk drivers kill innocent people. I don't understand why people can't drink at home or call a cab to take them home.

I'll drink to that!

I wonder what Moe Syzlak would say about that study?

Hard to Believe

I find the study hard to believe that Durham, NC is less drunk then Salt Lake City. On the other hand,in another study Fresno had less dangerous crime then Salt Lake City, so who knows.
With the crackdown on drunk driving by the local PD using stings and checkpoints, would that skew the results against Fresno?