In View of the recent brouhaha over the number of pot shops in Santa Barbara, that’s supposedly limited now to three, here’s some information to ponder about our city’s infatuation with alcohol — before Bevmo!
Active Retail Licenses as of 8/16/2010 Source: www.abc.ca.gov
City # of Liquor Licenses Population
Santa Barbara 478 90,703
Compared to other upscale coastal cities of similar population:
Santa Monica 309 (SB has 169 more) 92,703
Newport Beach 281 (SB has 197 more) 86,252
Ventura 319 (SB has 159 more) 106,744
Compared to coastal city with twice the population:
Huntington Beach 359 (SB has 119 more) 193,366
Compared to city of comparable size in county:
Santa Maria 199 (SB has 279 more) 93,225
Add in an additional 36 wholesalers and wineries, and that adds up to whole lotta drinkin’ going on in America’s Riviera. Checkpoint, please? — Anna Kappa
Was calculating the liquor licenses per capita too difficult?
talk about skewed numbers. this is why SB View isn’t a real news site, just a sensationalist blog. those numbers are combined on and off sale active retail licenses, which means restaurants, bars, etc. included in the numbers. last I checked this blog didn’t care about establishments such as those. just the “rampant” number of booze stores. how about some more realistic figures, like comparing the off-sale only numbers which are the actual stores you can buy alcohol from, not eateries/bars that serve it:
Santa Barbara: 125
Santa Monica: 66
Newport Beach: 53
Ventura: 105
Huntington Beach: 136
Santa Maria: 98
in short, the numbers are nowhere near as bad as the blog purports them to be. yes, SB has a higher per capita rate of places to buy alcohol than some other areas in the state, but I’m sorry that SB is a tourist town and because of that we have a lot of fine food establishments and bars/clubs. would you like to get rid of those, too?
let’s face it, the post author’s (and really the whole blog staff’s) motive for this is plain as day: BevMo. just give it a rest. BevMo is happening. the people who don’t want it are a very small minority, and honestly not a very pleasent one at that.
Also, on that list, SB is the only city with a major university. Large student populations means lots of alcohol consumption and plenty of bars. Combine that with our tourism and voila, there is the answer to the number of liquor licenses. Bring on BevMo! It’s time for SB to enter the 21st century.
KEYT uses the Santa Barbara View as a news/ story source… good work Anna!
http://www.keyt.com/news/local/Liquor-Licenses-In-Santa-Barbara-High-Compared-To-Other-Cities-101088669.html
do people really think that more people are going to drink just because there are more places to do it?
Seriously??
It just means they don’t have to drive as far to get to it – that’s a good thing for everyone on the road.