Ranking of 'Drunkest Cities'Wouldn't Pass a Sobriety Test
Magazines and Web sites love to compile "top cities" lists – the best small towns, best places to retire, most vibrant arts scenes, and so on. Such reports are easy for readers to digest, and can often lead to some free publicity when local news outlets pick up the lists to highlight (or dispute) them.
But while such rankings may make for interesting headlines, they're often arbitrary, and a far cry from scientific research.
Consider a recent report by Forbes.com on "America's Drunkest Cities," part of a broader look at the business of nightlife. The financial magazine's Web site (a competitor to the Online Journal) determined that Milwaukee is the heaviest-drinking metropolitan area out of the 35 it ranked in the U.S. Second-place honors went to Minneapolis-St. Paul, with Columbus, Ohio, third.
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