Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/01/19/take-a-photo-on-a-las-vegas-strip-pedestrian-bridge-and-pay-a-1000-fine-or-go-to-jail-for-six-months.html
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This is 100% the sort of law that’s written to be applied inconsistently.
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Sometimes street performers need to stop for reasons that may not be obvious to others.
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Which is exactly what will be its downfall, just like anti-loitering laws that were intended to reduce gang activities back in the 80s. SCOTUS said they were worded too ambiguously, which could lead to selective enforcement. This law has, potentially, the same issue. I think they’d be better off attacking the law on that basis, rather than on First Amendment grounds. Presumably, there are other nearby areas where protesters and street performers will still be able to protest and perform. A municipality is allowed to place some reasonable limits on where such activities can and can’t take place, and I suspect the current Court will find that a pedestrian bridge is a reasonable place to restrict such activity. But selective enforcement can lead to targeted enforcement, and that sort of thing even the current Court isn’t likely to want to tolerate.
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In an area where there can be a heavy constricted flow of people traffic, obstructions can be deadly. If someone trips, knocks down someone else, the flow is going to go right over them. (Seems like something that should have been accounted for in the design. People are going to want to stop and take pictures, it’s Vegas!)
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The pedestrian bridges are very broad, around ten feet wide, so high capacity was considered. But even with that they do become very channelized because of buskers and people taking selfies. It can be very difficult to get through.
This is the pedestrian bridge connecting Bellagio to Bally’s.
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yikes. something like 12 lanes for cars down there, and the equivalent of 1 lane of space for people on the bridge. i think i see the problem…
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10’ sounds like a lot, but that’s only 5’ each way, and that could fill quickly when a clump of people stop to take pictures. (Groups will never flatten out against the side. Some will take pictures, while the rest stop right in the way, like fleshy bollards.)
That picture looks far from peak usage.
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Yes this is very much empty.
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Why not just cut to the chase and require people to be constantly in motion between revenue-generating zones where they are allowed to stop and spend. /s
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The Fleshy Bollards is the name of my Shanty-Core band.
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The real problem is 2A fancy walkers, but they don’t dare say it.
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I didn’t think Vegas could find a way to be even more hostile towards pedestrians, but the bottom of the barrel can always be dug through.
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In October I walked through the strip when it was being set up for the Grand Prix, and there were pretty substantial detours and blockages for pedestrians everywhere. Not fun.
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“Oh, right, the people … hmm. That’s enough for those fleshbags, right? How about a drive-thru where they can just dump their money in a bucket then get out?”
American cities simply aren’t designed for mere pedestrians even ones that you would expect to be like Las Vegas. (Yes, I know there are some exceptions, or at least exceptions in some limited areas.) It’s very frustrating!
Dinosaurus wasn’t exactly wrong here. (Although give more time to get the people and other living beings out!)
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Somewhere, the jackasses who designed benches that can’t be slept on are furiously working on sidewalks that can’t be stopped on.
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I don’t think that has a sufficient amount of hostility towards existence in public spaces. I was thinking of something more along the lines of this.
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