Clear The Streets: The Worst Areas For Underage Drinking In Texas

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the areas in Texas cited the most for underage drinking violations are all near universities. But some party schools party a lot harder than others if we take the numbers at face value.

Overall, citations to businesses for serving underage patrons are trending down. This could be because:

• Businesses are more careful about who they serve,

• Young adults are more responsible than when I was a kid, or

• Few TABC officers are available to bust offenders.

Or a combination of all of the above, with the latter being a heavy influence as TABC, "has about 220 agents who are responsible for regulating over 60,000 businesses throughout the state."

Because the TABC has so few agents covering such a large state, they tend to focus on high-risk areas. Those are areas that have been cited previously and areas near universities.

In other words, those bars may get so many underage hits simply because those are the bars TABC is looking at. If I were a minor looking to be served alcohol right now, I'd probably try the bar across town from the university.

As an alum of Texas Tech University, I'm surprised by how few citations happened nearby between 2018 and 2023, as I was an offender once upon a time (sorry Mom and Dad and Tech).

According to this nifty interactive map, only 15 citations were given within two miles of the University. However, that does tie my alma mater with Texas A&M for 2nd place in Texas overall.

TTU and Texas A& M were majorly out-partied by South Texas College, as they had 69 violations within two miles of campus in the same year range. That's a huge lead for first place.

We all know the cliche that hindsight is 20/20 and if I could change my actions at those ages, I would, as I made a ton of reckless and ridiculous mistakes. It's part of growing up and most of us learn the hard way.

However, it may be that this generation of teens/ young adults is more responsible with alcohol. If so, I'm proud of them. Dream big kids.