When the study of the “drunkest cities in America” came out, one could assume that at least one city in Wisconsin would be on the list. With a baseball team named after brewing beer, we have a reputation for drinking.

A quick look on the list will show that Wisconsin holds more than just one of the drunkest cities; it holds ten of them with Green Bay being at spot number one.

Living in the heart of Green Bay, just a few blocks away from the stadium, I see a lot of this problem. When I started working on game days at Lambeau Field, I saw it even more.

The study noted that Green Bay has 138 bars which means there is a bar for about every 800 people when nationwide there are about 1.3 bars for every 10,000 people. Green Bay has many more bars than average.

Also, 26% of adults in Wisconsin said they regularly binge drink. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention defines binge drinking as “when men consume 5 or more drinks or women consume 4 or more drinks in about 2 hours.” The national average for 18%.

Because of all of this more than half of Green Bay’s deadly car accidents involve alcohol.

There are a few things that could contribute to the drinking problem. The Green Bay Packers are a key feature of how we identify our city. Alcohol tends to go hand in hand with attending a game at Lambeau Field.

Another suggested cause for it is our German heritage. Over 43% of Wisconsin’s population claims they are German. This theory was later proven wrong. New England also has high levels of alcohol consumption, but they have a low percentage of people with a German heritage.

Julia Sherman, the coordinator for the Wisconsin Alcohol Policy Project, told Wisconsin Public Radio that the alcohol problem can be blamed on “the four As:” availability, affordability, attractiveness and acceptability.

As stated before, Green Bay has an above average amount of bars which make alcohol readily available. We also have some of the lowest alcohol prices in the country. There are also excessive amounts of advertisements to promote alcohol consumption. Lastly, drinking isn’t anything out of the ordinary; it is very acceptable.

Communities have been noticing the problem and have been trying to make a change. It may take a while to see the changes on a city-wide or even a statewide level, but we’re still taking a step in the right direction.