Boston deemed "least drunk" city in US (!)

Men's Health magazine is about to declare Boston the "least drunk" among 100 major American cities, reports USA Today. (See the other outliers below.) That really doesn't feel right: Per-capita alcohol consumption has always been relatively high in the Bay State, and there's no indication that it's come down recently. (If anything, it's the reverse).

Since New York City is also near the bottom of the list, and sprawling Western cities are at the top, I suspect the explanation is in one of the major factors that Men's Health used to calculate the rankings: "booze-fueled car crashes." We don't necessarily drink less in Boston than in Fresno, but we're likelier to use public transit and taxis after going on a bender.

(Universal Hub readers are making much the same point.)

"Drunkest" cities:

1. Fresno, Calif.
2.  Reno, Nev.
3.  Billings, Mont. 
4.  Riverside, Calif.
5.  Austin 
6.  St. Louis
7.  San Antonio 
8.  Lubbock, Texas
9.  Tucson
10.  Bakersfield, Calif.



"Least drunk" cities:

1. Boston
2. Yonkers, N.Y.
3. Rochester, N.Y.
4. Salt Lake City
5. Miami
6. Newark
7. Durham, N.C.
8. New York City
9. Fort Wayne, Ind.
10. Manchester, N.H.