I’m not much of a drinker–at least I didn’t used to be until I moved to a new urbanist neighborhood.  In my old neighborhood I had no friends–not even really casual acquaintances–among my neighbors, and there were no bars within walking distance (well unless you wanted to walk for more than 30-60 minutes to the bizarrely charming shit-kicker bar).

In my current neighborhood I know everyone, everywhere–there’s always someone who is up for either going out to our local tavern, a charming and beautifully done little Irish pub embellished with dark wood paneling and a fireplace–or for having casual planned or unplanned get-togethers; they pretty much always involve drinking, in our parks, on our porches, on our sidewalks, in my guest house–you get the idea. 

Now, don’t get me wrong, this is a bit of hyperbole for journalistic effect–no one in my neighborhood (at least that I know of anyway) is getting crapfaced and beating their wife, husband, and/or kids, or driving after drinking because we don’t have to–we can walk (or stagger) home from 3 bars and multiple restaurants, and our friend’s houses. When I say I drink more what I mean specifically is I went from about 10 oz a year of alcohol consumption to about 30, which isn’t lush territory by a wide margin.  However, I have found that the enormous number of neighborhood friends I have made, their proximity, the huge number of social events we have here (including 2 that are totally alcohol related-a wine tasting and Oktoberfest), and the ability to walk to alcohol sources such as the bars–and let’s not forget the liquor store is an 8 minute walk from my door as well–causes me to drink more than I ever have before.  New Urbanist design promotes drinking as a byproduct of more social interaction and walkability.  Not sure the Congress for New Urbanism wants to promote that angle.  We even joked to our developer that they could use the slogan “In our neighborhood kids always have someone to play with right outside their front door so the adults can stand on the porch and drink”.