Community-based only

Limit number/density of alcohol establishments

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Under this strategy, local or state governments enact regulations that reduce the number of alcohol establishments or limit the number that may be established in a community or area, often through licensing or zoning laws.

Effectiveness: = Moderate effectiveness
Cost: $$ = Mid-range
Barriers: ### = Higher
Research Amount: **** = 5 or more longitudinal studies

Public Health Reach: Broad
Staffing Expertise Needed: Policy advocate
Target Population: All students
Research Population: College, general

Effectiveness ratings are based on estimated success in achieving targeted outcomes. Cost ratings are based on a consensus among research team members of the relative program and staff costs for adoption, implementation, and maintenance of a strategy. Actual costs will vary by institution, depending on size, existing programs, and other campus and community factors. Barriers to implementing a strategy include cost and opposition, among other factors. Public health reach refers to the number of students that a strategy affects. Strategies with a broad reach affect all students or a large group of students (e.g., all underage students); strategies with a focused reach affect individuals or small groups of students (e.g., sanctioned students). Research amount/quality refers to the number and design of studies.

Review:
Campbell CA, Hahn RA, Elder R, Brewer R, Chattopadhyay S, Fielding P, et al. The effectiveness of limiting alcohol outlet density as a means of reducing excessive alcohol consumption and alcohol-related harms. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 37(6):556–69, 2009.
Recent studies:
Mair C, Gruenewald PJ, Ponicki WR, & Remer L. Varying impacts of alcohol outlet densities on violent assaults: Explaining differences across neighborhoods. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 74(1):50–8, 2013.
Pridemore WA & Grubesic TH. Alcohol outlets and community levels of interpersonal violence: spatial density, outlet type, and seriousness of assault. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 50(1):132–59, 2013.
Scribner RA, Mason KE, Simonsen NR, Theall K, Chotalia J, Johnson S, et al. An ecological analysis of alcohol-outlet density and campus-reported violence at 32 US colleges. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 71(2):184–91, 2010.

References from 2019 update

Featured References:

Ahern, J.; Margerison-Zilko, C.; Hubbard, A.; and Galea, S. Alcohol outlets and binge drinking in urban neighborhoods: The implications of nonlinearity for intervention and policy. American Journal of Public Health 103(4):E81–E87, 2013.
Erickson, D.J.; Carlin, B.P.; Lenk, K.M.; et al. Do neighborhood attributes moderate the relationship between alcohol establishment density and crime? Prevention Science 16(2):254–264, 2015.
Foster, S.; Trapp, G.; Hooper, P.; et al. Liquor landscapes: Does access to alcohol outlets influence alcohol consumption in young adults? Health and Place 45:17–23, 2017.
Grubesic, T.H.; Pridemore, W.A.; Williams, D.A.; and Philip-Tabb, L. Alcohol outlet density and violence: The role of risky retailers and alcohol-related expenditures. Alcohol and Alcoholism 48(5):613–619, 2013.
Gruenewald, P.J.; Remer, L.G.; and LaScala, E.A. Testing a social ecological model of alcohol use: The California 50-city study. Addiction 109(5):736–745, 2014.
Halonen, J.I.; Kivimaki, M.; Virtanen, M.; et al. Living in proximity of a bar and risky alcohol behaviours: A longitudinal study. Addiction 108(2):320–328, 2013.
Han, D.; Shipp, E.M.; and Gorman, D.M. Evaluating the effects of a large increase in off-sale alcohol outlets on motor vehicle crashes: A time-series analysis. International Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion 22(4):320–327, 2015.
Pridemore, W.A.; and Grubesic, T.H. A spatial analysis of the moderating effects of land use on the association between alcohol outlet density and violence in urban areas. Drug and Alcohol Review 31(4):385–393, 2012.
Pridemore, W.A.; and Grubesic, T.H. Community organization moderates the effect of alcohol outlet density on violence. British Journal of Sociology 63(4):680–703, 2012.
Quick, M.; Law, J.; and Luan, H. The influence of on-premise and off-premise alcohol outlets on reported violent crime in the region of Waterloo, Ontario: Applying Bayesian spatial modeling to inform land use planning and policy. Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy 10(3):435–454, 2017.
Rowland, B.; Toumbourou, J.W.; and Livingston, M. The association of alcohol outlet density with illegal underage adolescent purchasing of alcohol. Journal of Adolescent Health 56(2):146–152, 2015.
Snowden, A.J.; and Pridemore, W.A. Alcohol and violence in a nonmetropolitan college town: Alcohol outlet density, outlet type, and assault. Journal of Drug Issues 43(3):357–373, 2013.
Snowden, A.J.; and Pridemore, W.A. Off-premise alcohol outlet characteristics and violence. American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse 40(4):327–335, 2014.
Zhang, X.; Hatcher, B.; Clarkson, L.; et al. Changes in density of on-premises alcohol outlets and impact on violent crime, Atlanta, Georgia, 1997–2007. Preventing Chronic Disease 12:E84, 2015.

Additional References:

Ahern, J.; Balzer, L.; and Galea, S. The roles of outlet density and norms in alcohol use disorder. Drug and Alcohol Dependence 151:144–150, 2015.
Ayuka, F.; Barnett, R.; and Pearce, J. Neighbourhood availability of alcohol outlets and hazardous alcohol consumption in New Zealand. Health and Place 29:186–199, 2014.
Azar, D.; White, V.; Coomber, K.; et al. The association between alcohol outlet density and alcohol use among urban and regional Australian adolescents. Addiction 111(1):65–72, 2016.
Badland, H.; Mavoa, S.; Livingston, M.; et al. Testing spatial measures of alcohol outlet density with self-rated health in the Australian context: Implications for policy and practice. Drug and Alcohol Review 35(3):298–306, 2016.
Cameron, M.P.; Cochrane, W.; Gordon, C.; and Livingston, M. Alcohol outlet density and violence: A geographically weighted regression approach. Drug and Alcohol Review 35(3):280–288, 2016.
Cederbaum, J.A.; Petering, R.; Hutchinson, M.K.; et al. Alcohol outlet density and related use in an urban black population in Philadelphia public housing communities. Health and Place 31:31–38, 2015.
Cunradi, C.B.; Mair, C.; Ponicki, W.; and Remer, L. Alcohol outlet density and intimate partner violence-related emergency department visits. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 36(5):847–853, 2012.
Day, P.; Breetzke, G.; Kingham, S.; and Campbell, M. Close proximity to alcohol outlets is associated with increased serious violent crime in New Zealand. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 36(1):48–54, 2012.
Dukes, J.W.; Dewland, T.A.; Vittinghoff, E.; et al. Access to alcohol and heart disease among patients in hospital: Observational cohort study using differences in alcohol sales laws. British Medical Journal 353:i2714, 2016.
Freisthler, B.; Holmes, M.R.; and Wolf, J.P. The dark side of social support: Understanding the role of social support, drinking behaviors and alcohol outlets for child physical abuse. Child Abuse and Neglect 38(6):1106–1119, 2014.
Freisthler, B.; Johnson-Motoyama, M.; and Kepple, N.J. Inadequate child supervision: The role of alcohol outlet density, parent drinking behaviors, and social support. Children and Youth Services Review 43:75–84, 2014.
Giesbrecht, N.; Huguet, N.; Ogden, L.; et al. Acute alcohol use among suicide decedents in 14 U.S. states: Impacts of off-premise and on-premise alcohol outlet density. Addiction 110(2):300–307, 2015.
Goldstick, J.E.; Brenner, A.B.; Lipton, R.I.; et al. A spatial analysis of heterogeneity in the link between alcohol outlets and assault victimization: Differences across victim subpopulations. Violence and Victims 30(4):649–662, 2015.
Gorman, D.M.; Ponicki, W.R.; Zheng, Q.; et al. Violent crime redistribution in a city following a substantial increase in the number of off-sale alcohol outlets: A Bayesian analysis. Drug and Alcohol Review 37(3):348–355, 2018.
Halonen, J.I.; Kivimaki, M.; Pentti, J.; et al. Association of the availability of beer, wine, and liquor outlets with beverage-specific alcohol consumption: A cohort study. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 38(4):1086–1093, 2014.
Halonen, J.I.; Kivimaki, M.; Virtanen, M.; et al. Proximity of off-premise alcohol outlets and heavy alcohol consumption: A cohort study. Drug and Alcohol Dependence 132(1–2):295–300, 2013.
Han, D.; and Gorman, D.M. Exploring spatial associations between on-sale alcohol availability, neighborhood population characteristics, and violent crime in a geographically isolated city. Journal of Addiction 2013:6, 2013.
Hobday, M.; Chikritzhs, T.; Liang, W.B.; and Meuleners, L. The effect of alcohol outlets, sales and trading hours on alcohol-related injuries presenting at emergency departments in Perth, Australia, from 2002 to 2010. Addiction 110(12):1901–1909, 2015.
Iritani, B.J.; Waller, M.W.; Halpern, C.T.; et al. Alcohol outlet density and young women's perpetration of violence toward male intimate partners. Journal of Family Violence 28(5):459–470, 2013.
Jennings, J.M.; Milam, A.J.; Greiner, A.; et al. Neighborhood alcohol outlets and the association with violent crime in one mid-Atlantic city: The implications for zoning policy. Journal of Urban Health 91(1):62–71, 2014.
Kearns, M.C.; Reidy, D.E.; and Valle, L.A. The role of alcohol policies in preventing intimate partner violence: A review of the literature. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs 76(1):21–30, 2015.
Lipton, R.; Yang, X.W.; Braga, A.A.; et al. The geography of violence, alcohol outlets, and drug arrests in Boston. American Journal of Public Health 103(4):657–664, 2013.
Maimon, D.; and Browning, C.R. Underage drinking, alcohol sales and collective efficacy: Informal control and opportunity in the study of alcohol use. Social Science Research 41(4):977–990, 2012.
Matheson, F.I.; Creatore, M.I.; Gozdyra, P.; et al. A population-based study of premature mortality in relation to neighbourhood density of alcohol sales and cheque cashing outlets in Toronto, Canada. British Medical Journal Open 4(12):e006032, 2014.
McKinney, C.M.; Chartier, K.G.; Caetano, R.; and Harris, T.R. Alcohol availability and neighborhood poverty and their relationship to binge drinking and related problems among drinkers in committed relationships. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 27(13):2703–2727, 2012.
Morrison, C.; Smith, K; Gruenewald, P.J.; et al. Relating off-premises alcohol outlet density to intentional and unintentional injuries. Addiction 111(1):56–64, 2016.
Morton, C.M. The moderating effect of substance abuse service accessibility on the relationship between child maltreatment and neighborhood alcohol availability. Children and Youth Services Review 35(12):1933–1940, 2013.
Morton, C.M.; Simmel, C.; and Peterson, N.A. Neighborhood alcohol outlet density and rates of child abuse and neglect: Moderating effects of access to substance abuse services. Child Abuse and Neglect 38(5):952–961, 2014.
Paschall, M.J.; Grube, J.W.; Thomas, S.; et al. Relationships between local enforcement, alcohol availability, drinking norms, and adolescent alcohol use in 50 California cities. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs 73(4):657–665, 2012.
Paschall, M.J.; Lipperman-Kreda, S.; and Grube, J.W. Effects of the local alcohol environment on adolescents' drinking behaviors and beliefs. Addiction 109(3):407–416, 2014.
Pearson, A.L.; Bowie, C.; and Thornton, L.E. Is access to alcohol associated with alcohol/substance abuse among people diagnosed with anxiety/mood disorder? Public Health 128(11):968–976, 2014.
Pereira, G.; Wood, L.; Foster, S.; and Haggar, F. Access to alcohol outlets, alcohol consumption and mental health. PLoS ONE 8(1):e53461, 2013.
Ray, J.G.; Turner, L.; Gozdyra, P.; et al. On-premise alcohol establishments and ambulance calls for trauma, assault, and intoxication. Medicine 95(19):e3669, 2016.
Richardson, E.A.; Hill, S.E.; Mitchell, R.; et al. Is local alcohol outlet density related to alcohol-related morbidity and mortality in Scottish cities? Health and Place 33:172–180, 2015.
Roman, C.G.; and Reid, S.E. Assessing the relationship between alcohol outlets and domestic violence: Routine activities and the neighborhood environment. Violence and Victims 27(5):811–828, 2012.
Rowland, B.; Toumbourou, J.W.; Satyen, L.; et al. Associations between alcohol outlet densities and adolescent alcohol consumption: A study in Australian students. Addictive Behaviors 39(1):282–288, 2014.
Rowland, B.; Toumbourou, J.W.; Satyen, L.; et al. The relationship between the density of alcohol outlets and parental supply of alcohol to adolescents. Addictive Behaviors 39(12):1898–1903, 2014.
Scherer, M.; Romano, E.; Caldwell, S.; and Taylor, E. The impact of retail beverage service training and social host laws on adolescents' DUI rates in San Diego County, California. Traffic Injury Prevention 19(2):111–117, 2018.
Schofield, T.P.; and Denson, T.F. Temporal alcohol availability predicts first-time drunk driving, but not repeat offending. PLoS ONE 8(8):e71169, 2013.
Shih, R.A.; Mullins, L.; Ewing, B.A.; et al. Associations between neighborhood alcohol availability and young adolescent alcohol use. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors 29(4):950–959, 2015.
Shimotsu, S.T.; Jones-Webb, R.J.; MacLehose, R.F.; et al. Neighborhood socioeconomic characteristics, the retail environment, and alcohol consumption: A multilevel analysis. Drug and Alcohol Dependence 132(3):449–456, 2013.
Snowden, A.J.; and Freiburger, T.L. Alcohol outlets, social disorganization, and robberies: Accounting for neighborhood characteristics and alcohol outlet types. Social Science Research 51:145–162, 2015.
Spoerri, A.; Zwahlen, M.; Panczak, R.; et al. Alcohol-selling outlets and mortality in Switzerland— the Swiss National Cohort. Addiction 108(9):1603–1611, 2013.
Stockwell, T.; Zhao, J.H.; Martin, G.; et al. Minimum alcohol prices and outlet densities in British Columbia, Canada: Estimated impacts on alcohol-attributable hospital admissions. American Journal of Public Health 103(11):2014–2020, 2013.
Stockwell, T.; Zhao, J.H.; Marzell, M.; et al. Relationships between minimum alcohol pricing and crime during the partial privatization of a Canadian government alcohol monopoly. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs 76(4):628–634, 2015.
Toomey, T.L.; Erickson, D.J.; Carlin, B.P.; et al. Is the density of alcohol establishments related to nonviolent crime? Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs 73(1):21–25, 2012.
Waller, M.W.; Iritani, B.J.; Christ, S.L.; et al. Relationships among alcohol outlet density, alcohol use, and intimate partner violence victimization among young women in the United States. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 27(10):2062–2086, 2012.
Waller, M.W.; Iritani, B.J.; Flewelling, R.L.; et al. Violence victimization of young men in heterosexual relationships: Does alcohol outlet density influence outcomes? Violence and Victims 27(4):527–547, 2012.
Wilkinson, C.; and Livingston, M. Distances to on- and off-premise alcohol outlets and experiences of alcohol-related amenity problems. Drug and Alcohol Review 31(4):394–401, 2012.
Young, R.; Macdonald, L.; and Ellaway, A. Associations between proximity and density of local alcohol outlets and alcohol use among Scottish adolescents. Health and Place 19:124–130, 2013.
Zhao, J.H.; Stockwell, T.; Martin, G.; et al. The relationship between minimum alcohol prices, outlet densities and alcohol-attributable deaths in British Columbia, 2002–2009. Addiction 108(6):1059–1069, 2013.

For more information about intervention designs and implementation, check the articles in the References tab.

Environmental-Level Strategies

Limit number/density of alcohol establishments