If you voted in the most recent local elections, you may recall a question on the ballot asking if Keene should allow the establishment of social districts.
This is in regard to Gov. Kelly Ayotte signing House Bill 467 into law, “giving adults the green light to purchase to-go alcoholic drinks from bars and restaurants and enjoy them while walking through designated public zones known as “social districts” or “sip and stroll” areas,” according to NHPR.
The bill itself defines a social district as “A defined outdoor area in which a person may consume alcoholic beverages sold by a licensee.”
For those 21 and over, you’ll be disappointed to learn that Keene voted no to allowing social districts. Although that makes me wonder what the voter turnout was for college students. Maybe if more students participated in local elections, these ballot questions would gain more attention and could pass.
If one in four people in New Hampshire are age 60 or older, my guess is those same people went and voted against social districts. But hey, I’ve seen plenty of older parents at college functions.
If Keene had allowed social host districts, it would have set up designated drinking areas in the city, such as sections of Main Street. That would allow anyone over age 21 to carry their drinks outside and drink them within that designated area. It would also avoid unnecessary arrests of individuals having an open container when they walk right out of a bar.
Many college towns across the country have designated social districts. Why not Keene?
Post-COVID-19 pandemic, businesses have dealt with hardships trying to “return back to normal”. The idea with social districts is that they bring life back into our cities and towns, encouraging socializing, not necessarily just drinking.
Michigan and North Carolina seem to be thriving with their social districts. In Norwood, “The president of a local business group, Robin Davis, concedes that ‘businesses were struggling to make up the losses they endured during the pandemic and needed revival.’ Norwood’s social district now features 32 businesses offering drink-on-the-street privileges. ‘For small towns who might be afraid of the implications they perceive a social district would bring,” Davis told a local reporter, ‘I think I would encourage them to consider what economic development can do for their town,”’ according to an article from Governing.com.
While unruly young adults and drunks may be a concern for a college city voting on whether or not we should have social districts, those who wish to be rowdy or loud of some sort will choose to do so regardless.
With many bars and restaurants downtown, it would be a great spot for a social district. Encouraging legal drinking rather than the illegal drinking that practically everyone already knows is happening.
I guess I will see how social districts positively or negatively affect N.H. when I go home for Thanksgiving break; only time will tell, I suppose.
Madelyn Marabella can be contacted at
mmarabella@kscequinox.com
