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Alcohol Availability and Neighborhood Characteristics in Los Angeles, California and Southern Louisiana

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Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine the associations between alcohol availability types and community characteristics in randomly selected census tracts in Southern California and Southeastern Louisiana. Outlet shelf space and price by beverage type was collected from all off-sale alcohol outlets in 189 census tracts by trained research personnel. Three aspects of alcohol availability at the census tract level were considered—outlets per roadway mile, shelf space, and least price by beverage type. Using multivariate analyses, we examined the associations between census tract socioeconomic and demographic characteristics and alcohol availability types. Fifteen measures of alcohol availability were calculated—total shelf space and shelf space by beverage types (beer, malt liquor, and distilled spirits); outlets per roadway mile, per tract, and per capita; and least price by beverage type (including wine). In multivariate analyses controlling for state, male unemployment rate was inversely associated with total shelf space (p = 0.03) and distilled spirit shelf space (p = 0.05). Malt liquor shelf space was inversely associated with percent White (p = 0.02). Outlets per roadway mile was positively associated with household poverty (p < 0.0001), whereas percent African American was inversely associated with outlets per roadway mile (p = 0.03). Beverage-specific least prices were not associated with any socioeconomic or demographic community characteristics. Alcohol availability types, but not least price, were associated with some community characteristics. More research exploring how alcohol availability types vary by community and their relationship to alcohol-related harms should be conducted.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (grant no. 013749). We would like to thank Heather Guentzel, Kamau Williams, Michael Murrley, and Kelli Trombacco in Los Angeles and Erica Alarcon and Catherine Haywood in New Orleans for their work on this project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Health Program and Drug Policy Research Center, RAND Corporation, 1776 Main Street, P.O. Box 2138, Santa Monica, CA, 90407-2138, USA

    Ricky N. Bluthenthal, Deborah A. Cohen, Christopher Beighley & Matthias Schonlau

  2. Urban Community Research Center, Sociology Department, California State University, Dominguez Hills, Carson, CA, USA

    Ricky N. Bluthenthal

  3. Department of Community Health Sciences, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA

    Thomas A. Farley

  4. School of Public Health, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA, USA

    Richard Scribner

  5. Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI), Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Paul L. Robinson

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  1. Ricky N. Bluthenthal
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Correspondence to Ricky N. Bluthenthal.

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Bluthenthal, R.N., Cohen, D.A., Farley, T.A. et al. Alcohol Availability and Neighborhood Characteristics in Los Angeles, California and Southern Louisiana. J Urban Health 85, 191–205 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-008-9255-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-008-9255-1

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