There's Only One MN City Where It's Now Legal To Drink Outside

It's the only place in Minnesota again this year where you can stroll along the streets of this city-- and legally enjoy an alcoholic beverage while you do it.

When it comes to laws concerning alcohol, Minnesota has historically been a bit of a strange state. Heck, the Land of 10,000 Lakes only legalized Sunday liquor sales as recently as 2017, and we remain the only state that makes grocery stores sell something called '3.2 beer' instead of the regular beer liquor stores sell.

Of course, I'm a Wisconsin native, and having grown up behind the Cheddar Curtain, where alcohol laws are *just a bit* more liberal, makes the North Star State's attitudes on adult beverages seem even more old-school and conservative to me.

READ MORE: Minnesota is the Only State Where This Strange Beverage is Sold

But there's one Minnesota city that's doing something about these seemingly archaic attitudes concerning alcohol. Because they're once again testing a new policy that will make it legal to drink in public-- on city streets even!

The city of Anoka, located in the northwest Twin Cities metro, gave the green light last year to a test that allowed an open-container policy on alcohol in a special area downtown, the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal noted. Here's how the city of Anoka described the program last year:

This 'Social District' is a specific area that allows people to purchase and drink beer, wine, or a cocktail from a licensed business and walk through a defined area of the city including public spaces such as a sidewalk or street to allow for participation in a district event/activity.

And while the test ran during September only last year, the city said, Axios Twin Cities reports that the program has been approved again for this year:

'Alcoholic beverages purchased at 10 participating restaurants and bars can be brought outside and enjoyed anywhere within the designated area, which includes part of Main Street and Riverfront Memorial Park,' Axios Twin Cities said.

And, instead of just a month, this year's Social District program will run daily from 10 am to 10 pm throughout the entire warm-weather season, from Wednesday, May 1st through Sunday, October 6th, 2024.

Google Street View/Canva

Anoka went on to say that it's the ONLY city in Minnesota that's allowed to test this new policy again this year. The city says it will report its findings to the state of Minnesota later this fall.

Several other provisions are included in this experiment again this year (read more HERE) but I'm glad Minnesota is at least TRYING something like this. Other U.S. cities like Las Vegas, New Orleans, and Memphis already have similar policies in place, which made for a great time when I was there.

City of Anoka