Arkansas Blog

I would much rather be around people smoking MJ than drinking alcohol. The human reactions are entirely opposite.
And perhaps safer.

One of the problems (and there are many) with this whole concept is that the measure presented in the Legislature would have given over 20 cities in Arkansas and their local city boards the authority to designate and regulate these districts. It wasn't JUST for the Rivermarket District. It's NOT all about what one 3 block area of Little Rock thinks would be fun and games...it's a quality of life decision that affects entire communities as well as promotes unnecessary and unsupervised access to alcohol for minors and more headaches for law enforcement. It really is NOT an entertaining thought.

What happened to the idea of closing off a section of Clinton Ave. to vehicular traffic? I'm not sure how I feel about that idea or the idea of carrying drinks from one establishment to another, but allowing open drinking only on that section of the River Market and only during the time that traffic is blocked might work.

I thought the bill last session made it a location option?

The closing down of the streets in the Rivermarket area on weekends, etc. has been an on and off again experiment that basically hasn't worked. On any given evening, with bars and clubs being responsible for service and monitoring consumption, it's still possible to have a GREAT time at the Rivermarket without spilling out into the streets to booze it up. I know...I've done it!

Have any of the public drinking supporters ever taken a stroll down Bourbon Street on a Sunday morning? If the piles of trash (and associated clean-up cost) are not enough to change their minds, the smell will be.

LR is not New Orleans or Dallas, Arkansas not Louisiana or Texas. Arkansans love to visit those places. They are more fun than we are.

Louisiana and Texas cultures have a real historical foundation just as Arkansas' historical foundation has us set on our current course, our current culture.

We are the big fish, small pond-ers. People didn't stop in Arkansas on the way to Texas if they had any grit. We ran off Federal Express because we didn't want to upset our local economy.

What does all this have to do with beer on Clinton AVenue? There ain't no party there folks. Adding a couple of drunken kids to all the strolling diners and tourists just ain't goin' to make it Bourbon Street just like the empty cable cars don't make it 1920.

I know this is the drum I love to beat but, how about looking at LR for what it has to offer instead of what it doesn't.