Employed

Per Capita Income

Above Poverty

Economic

Preschool Enrollment

Bachelor's Education

High School Enrollment

Education

Voting

Census Response

Social

Automobile Access

Active Commuting

Transportation

Insured Adults

Healthcare Access

Retail Density

Park Access

Tree Canopy

Neighborhood

Severely Cost Burdened Low-Income Renters

Severely Cost Burdened Low-Income Homeowners

Housing Habitability

Uncrowded Housing

Homeownership

Housing

Ozone

Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5)

Diesel Particulate Matter

Safe Drinking Water

Clean Environment

Extreme Heat

Impervious Surfaces

Outdoor Workers

Public Transit Access

Sea Level Rise

Two Parent Households

Alcohol Availability

Supermarket Access

Decision Support

Everyone should have access to goods and services in their community that can support a healthy lifestyle. When there is a high concentration of places that do not promote and support health, including liquor stores, bars, and restaurants that sell alcohol, it can adversely affect the health of people living in those communities. Research has found that neighborhoods with a higher density of retail outlets selling alcohol are often the same neighborhoods with the highest rates of health inequities, including many low income and communities of color.

 A study of alcohol retailers across the United States at the census tract level found alcohol density to be significantly higher in African American and Latino neighborhoods, and to be associated with higher levels of poverty.

 Alcohol outlets are also more concentrated in neighborhoods with higher residential instability and higher immigrant populations.

 Studies have also found that alcohol retailers tend to locate, as well as advertise, more in lower income neighborhoods.

 Demand for alcohol may not be any higher than it is in other neighborhoods, but the mere presence of more alcohol retailers encourages greater consumption. More troubling is that neighborhoods with a high concentration of alcohol outlets are associated with higher rates of crime, violence, intimate partner violence, and child maltreatment.

 Therefore, neighborhoods with higher alcohol availability disproportionately deal with the effects of overconsumption of alcohol, including alcoholism and alcohol-related diseases like cirrhosis. Neighborhoods with higher alcohol availability also have been shown to have less healthy food options and a higher concentration of fast food restaurants and convenience stores.

 For more research on the health impacts of healthy food and retail options, see the 

 briefs. For more facts on alcohol outlet density and public health, see issue briefs from 

Ventura County Department of Behavioral Health

This indicator measures the percentage of people who live more than a quarter mile from a store that sells alcohol.

UC Berkeley Urban Displacement Project, “Gentrification, Displacement and the Role of Public Investment: A Literature Review,” March 3, 2015, http://iurd.berkeley.edu/uploads/Displacement_Lit_Review_Final.pdf.

Berke, E.M. et al, 2010. “Alcohol Retail Density and Demographic Predictors of Health Disparities: A Geographic Analysis.” American Journal of Public Health, 100(1): 1967-1971. Available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2936987/

Theall, K.P. et al, 2009. The Neighborhood Alcohol Environment and Alcohol-Related Morbidity.” Alcohol and Alcoholism, 44(5): 491-499. Available at https://academic.oup.com/alcalc/article/44/5/491/182344

Marco, M. et al, 2017. “Neighborhood Characteristics, Alcohol Outlet Density, and Alcohol-Related Calls-for-Service: A Spatiotemporal Analysis in a Wet Drinking County.” International Journal of Geo-Information. Available at https://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdch/Outlet_Density_Associated_Harms_Summary-3.10.2011_373894_7.pdf

Romley, J.A. et al., 2007. Alcohol and Environmental Justice: The Density of Liquor Stores and Bars in Urban Neighborhoods in the United States.” Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 68(1): 48-55. Available at https://www.rand.org/pubs/reprints/RP1323.html

Toomey, T.L. et al, 2013. “The Association between Density of Alcohol Establishments and Violent Crime Within Urban Neighborhoods.” Alcoholism, Clinical & Experimental Research, 36(8): 1468-1473. Available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3412911/

Morland, K. et al, 2002. The Contextual Effect of the Local Food Environment on Residents’ Diets: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study. American Journal of Public Health, 92(11): 1761-68.

 at the community level requires a range of strategies to improve the retail environment and safety of the neighborhood. Communities should first seek to 

, first by using their zoning and permitting processes to limit the concentration of alcohol-selling outlets within the community, and also conducting studies of existing alcohol outlet density. They can also establish violence prevention and safety programs to reduce the crime and violence typically found in neighborhoods with a high concentration of alcohol outlets. Communities can also incorporate alcohol availability recommendations into their General Plan, studies or assessments, site plans, smart growth efforts and other land use and transportation planning efforts, alongside elements on healthy food and safety. They should also ensure that transportation options are available to existing and future healthy food outlets, including public transportation for those without cars. 

 through financial incentives. A good place to start is by reviewing the 

 recommendations for financing new healthy food options, including supermarkets but also smaller-scale providers like farmers markets and community supported agriculture (CSAs). Local governments should also build 

 through community organizing efforts, youth development programs, and employment and workforce services that can support a healthy food system within the community. Jurisdictions are encouraged to explore the use of community land trusts and other land preservation strategies to ensure that each neighborhood’s mix of destinations is culturally and economically appropriate to its current residents and explore policy solutions to prevent displacement as new development or investments occur.

Addressing alcohol availability is not as simple as discouraging retailers from selling alcohol. It requires planning and a community-involved process to identify where there are gaps in healthy food access and assessing the types of options available, as well as addressing safety issues in the neighborhood. Two good resources are the U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC)’s 

Guide to Measuring Alcohol Outlet Density

Guide to Local Authority to Regulate Alcohol Density

, which identify additional resources that can be used to identify the most suitable policies for your community.

Support resident power, social connections, and community economic capacity, so that people are empowered to inform community planning decisions.

Community Power and Connection

Equity

Sufficient Evidence

Community Organizing

Strong Evidence

Increased Funding for Public Health Infrastructure

Restorative Justice Programs

Promising

Youth Development and Advocacy Programs

Climate

Small Business Retention Initiatives

Raise Wages and Benefits

Limit the number of alcohol retail outlets in the community and increase community safety through zoning, planning and other local processes.

Pollution

Healthy Transportation Access

Healthy Neighborhoods

Zoning Code Limitations on Alcohol Outlets 

Emerging

Environmental Justice Element (SB 1000)

Smart Growth

Best Practice

General Plans

Studies or Assessments of Alcohol Outlet Density 

Physical Activity

Violence Prevention and Safety

Encourage development of healthy food options in communities with high concentrations of alcohol outlets, and identify other strategies for providing healthier food within existing communities.

Policy Guide

Alcohol Availability

References