CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Carrying a drink from a brewery to a restaurant has become more popular as the North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission reports nearly 70 registered social districts across the state.

Social districts grew in popularity after a 2021 law that allowed municipalities to create designated areas where to-go containers of alcoholic beverages were allowed.

It’s now been one year since neighborhood Plaza Midwood became the first social district In Charlotte to take on the challenge.

“In a lot of ways, it was less of any problem than we anticipated and prepared for,” said Phillip Guzman, board member of the Plaza Midwood Merchants Association.

What seemed like a big risk has turned into a success for the association as it spearheaded standards that would set the tone for sipping and strolling.

“As we rolled it off the ground, we took it very slow. We did not want a New Orleans Mardi Gras experience in the first few weeks, so we rolled out the cups slowly, we didn't even have all 15 participating businesses,” Guzman said.

One year later and Guzman says the social district has sold over 3,500 cups, generating almost $30,000 in sales to participating businesses.

“We've received no official complaints from CMPD, we haven't received a complaint from the city. We've had some discussion with some neighbors about things they want to continue to improve,” Guzman said. “Honestly, some of our merchants are coming up with things that they want to help improve and that's mostly being driven by, hey, let's have more events, let's take advantage of this, let's try and leverage it.”

The business association says Plaza Midwood is the only one of its kind to carry reusable steel cups, a sustainable effort that the groups says has paid off.

“The social district is generating some of the income that allows us to run more cleanups in our area so we can try and keep our community cleaner, and our businesses can work a little bit harder on not just picking up trash, but serving our customers better,” Guzman said.

As social districts continue to grow across the state, the Plaza Midwood group says its next goal is to bring events into the mix.

“Right now, it's mostly leveraged around music that we're working on, because the good news about that is, if we move our music outside, all of a sudden the entire area is our social district and can become our music venue,” Guzman said.

Participating businesses in Plaza Midwood say they are hopeful for the long-term impact, as Moo & Brew and Dish report selling almost 200 cups each in the past year.

To participate, interested municipalities must register with a detailed map of the social district to the ABC Commission with boundaries clearly marked and hours during which alcoholic beverages can be consumed.

To find businesses participating in the Plaza Midwood social district, visit the website.