Are people more attracted to a community that lacks bars and liquor stores? Are property values higher in towns that are "dry."

For example, let's look at the town I live -- which has banned liquor and beer sales within its borders since the 1890s.

The community is one of the oldest in the region (1682), and one of the oldest and most historic buildings in the borough limits is a tavern that dates from the early 1700s, and was the site, during the Revolutionary War, of the signing of the state's first constitution.

But the joke around town is that "you know the person is a newcomer when he or she tries to order a beer at the Indian King Tavern," which has been a museum for at least 80 years.

First, let's note that the absence of places to buy liquor or beer in a town doesn't necessarily mean that spirits are not consumed within the locale.

Right over the line in the next, and wet, town is a sports bar. It's right across the street that runs through both towns. It's noisy and rowdy, and that spills over into our dry neighborhoods, especially on St. Patrick's Day, when our streets are filled with overflow parking for at least 12 hours. These are considered nuisances and can be a major drawback for residential neighborhoods -- so put that plus on the "dry" city side.

Our town is very popular, however, despite its lack of alcohol sales. The median sale price, at $495,000, is the area's highest. Our school district is ranked second in the state. These can be definite benefits to a "dry" city -- and very attractive to homebuyers with young families.

But what about the negatives?

While restaurants encourage patrons to bring out of town spirits to dinner, where the bottles will be uncorked, the turnover among restaurants in our dry town is greater than in the wet towns around us, since eateries depend for much of their profit on the markups on spirits.

Our charming downtown closes down at 6 each night, while, two towns over, the wet restaurants are filled to the rafters even on weeknights. Our residents figure that since they have to go to the next town anyway to buy liquor, they might as well eat there, too.

Since there is no industry and little reason for residents and guests to visit downtown after 6 except in the two weeks before Christmas, our property taxes are among the highest in the state. I have a 5.375 30-year fixed on a $220,000 mortgage. Almost half of my monthly payment goes to property taxes.

While realtors may not hear a "wet" town or a "dry" town as a reason for a sale or not -- it is true that a "dry" town can be an inconvenience. One woman even wrote into our shopper newspaper that she could buy a birthday cake for her dog in town, but she had to leave town to buy a bottle of champagne to celebrate her wedding anniversary.

Some resort towns on the seashore are dry, but when they were founded as urban middle-class getaways in the early 1900s, the nation was heading toward Prohibition, and in the cities, the saloons on every corner were a huge social problem among the poor and the low-paid working classes.

Yet Schlimme points out that the most successful of all dry resort towns in the area, which is on a barrier island, has a large liquor store on the mainland right near the causeway that leads to the town.

"Nuisance bars" are a more tangible part of the discussion, since, when I lived in the city, neighborhood groups could easily prove that they contributed to crime and substance abuses, and once they have been forced out, those areas saw improvements in the quality of life and property values.

So is dry better than wet where real estate is concerned? The short answer is that there is no short answer. People chose to live in a place for a variety of reasons, and whether a town is wet or dry could be one of them. But it is probably not one that will make or break a sale, unless there's a bar or liquor store next door.