(03-17-2022, 07:55 AM)danbrotherston Wrote: Who does this?

https://twitter.com/vidman/status/1504149289865519110

https://www.reddit.com/r/waterloo/comments/tg0x77/laurier_student_in_wheelchair_trapped_by_ezra/

Honestly, I know there are problems here, but this is an AODA violation, and opens the city to lawsuits.  Are they idiots or malicious?  Also is 'they' WRPS, city, or region?

And most of all, why do we suck so bad?

(03-17-2022, 08:16 AM)ijmorlan Wrote:

(03-17-2022, 07:55 AM)danbrotherston Wrote: Who does this?

https://twitter.com/vidman/status/1504149289865519110

https://www.reddit.com/r/waterloo/comments/tg0x77/laurier_student_in_wheelchair_trapped_by_ezra/

Honestly, I know there are problems here, but this is an AODA violation, and opens the city to lawsuits.  Are they idiots or malicious?  Also is 'they' WRPS, city, or region?

And most of all, why do we suck so bad?

Definitely idiots. But as it is said, sufficiently advanced idiocy is indistinguishable from malice.

Clearly, the fences should have been installed far enough apart that there was still enough space between them to allow wheelchairs to pass through easily.

What this tells us is that many people are still not thinking about all users of space when they make plans.

It’s debatable what measures should be taken to control what happens on St. Patrick’s day; but it’s not debatable that people in wheelchairs need to have, in practice, the same rights as everybody else.

(03-17-2022, 03:17 PM)ac3r Wrote: Looks like the efforts to stop the party were futile...who could have expected that, eh? The students just moved it over to Marshall Street which is on the next block. I'm sure the WRPS will nonetheless talk about how successful their efforts were at not allowing anyone to have fun.

(03-17-2022, 03:51 PM)ijmorlan Wrote:

(03-17-2022, 03:17 PM)ac3r Wrote: Looks like the efforts to stop the party were futile...who could have expected that, eh? The students just moved it over to Marshall Street which is on the next block. I'm sure the WRPS will nonetheless talk about how successful their efforts were at not allowing anyone to have fun.

I got the impression suppression was pretty successful in previous years. Although in 2020 Covid was new and everything had just shut down so most people might have just not come regardless.

Wait, it went to Marshall St., not the parallel Bricker Ave.? Interesting.

I really would like to see a more historical view on this. I distinctly remember Ezra Ave. parties/riots being an issue in the ’90s; then it disappeared for a while, then it was an issue again a few years ago when they tried the beer tent, then I thought it disappeared again, then now they are again trying a fairly severe suppression strategy.

Of course, in the ’90s it was still mostly houses; the larger apartment buildings are mostly more recent than that.

(03-17-2022, 03:51 PM)ijmorlan Wrote: I got the impression suppression was pretty successful in previous years. Although in 2020 Covid was new and everything had just shut down so most people might have just not come regardless.

Wait, it went to Marshall St., not the parallel Bricker Ave.? Interesting.

I really would like to see a more historical view on this. I distinctly remember Ezra Ave. parties/riots being an issue in the ’90s; then it disappeared for a while, then it was an issue again a few years ago when they tried the beer tent, then I thought it disappeared again, then now they are again trying a fairly severe suppression strategy.

Of course, in the ’90s it was still mostly houses; the larger apartment buildings are mostly more recent than that.

(03-17-2022, 06:18 PM)ac3r Wrote:

(03-17-2022, 03:51 PM)ijmorlan Wrote: I got the impression suppression was pretty successful in previous years. Although in 2020 Covid was new and everything had just shut down so most people might have just not come regardless.

Wait, it went to Marshall St., not the parallel Bricker Ave.? Interesting.

I really would like to see a more historical view on this. I distinctly remember Ezra Ave. parties/riots being an issue in the ’90s; then it disappeared for a while, then it was an issue again a few years ago when they tried the beer tent, then I thought it disappeared again, then now they are again trying a fairly severe suppression strategy.

Of course, in the ’90s it was still mostly houses; the larger apartment buildings are mostly more recent than that.

Yeah. There's a megathread on the Waterloo subreddit with a few updates. Apparently you can see it all on a Snapchat map, though since I don't use that app I don't know what it looks like. Here's the link to the thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/waterloo/comments/tgfo8t/st_paddys_2022_megathread/

It's interesting seeing the various public reactions to this. Some people think it's going to be a Covid-19 disaster. Some think the police should be out there in riot gear and tanks. Meanwhile the kids just want to let loose and I don't blame them after being isolated for two years.

Apart from like 1 death a couple years ago and some assaults, I don't get why people freak out about this. We're a university city and kids are going to party. On average, the worst that happens is some hangovers or a night in the drunk tank or ER from a bad fall. It's stupid as hell but meh...early 20s, 2 universities and a college. It's mostly just harmless fun with some headaches the next day. Canadians have burned down cities and rioted just because they won a sports game before haha so it could be much worse.

(03-17-2022, 05:31 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: Were there actual riots?

Or do people just think a group of students is a riot.

I'm so fucking sick of this...I remember being a student and being harassed as a student in stores. But if I stand in a crowd with people flying the Nazi flag police and Con pols will come shake my hand.

(03-17-2022, 07:21 PM)ijmorlan Wrote: I don’t remember that well. My recollection is that there were parties in the various houses which then spilled out over the whole street and there were bottles getting thrown around and fights, together with property damage. But I don’t have a very good recollection.

If it was just a bit of noise a few nights a year I wouldn’t be too worried about it (although note that some people seem to think that every Saturday night in a quiet residential area is still just “a few nights a year”, which is obviously inappropriate). But at the point where the crowd spills over all the lawns and damages plants and exteriors of houses in the area regardless of the wishes of the individual property owners it’s not appropriate, and characterizing it as just “students having fun” is not accurate. People may have fun but they may not, deliberately or accidentally, damage others’ property in doing so.

I’ve also heard about people coming from outside of town. At the point where some of the people may be randoms from outside of town who have just heard that it’s a lawless event, there is definitely a problem.

All of the above being said, I’m not really that familiar with what actually happens, so I can’t really tell for sure which framing is accurate. The problem is that people argue one framing vs. another and make little effort to try to establish which framing is a good-faith understanding of the real-world event.

(03-17-2022, 10:51 PM)plam Wrote: Just going to be a bit cranky and say that i was biking along King St and I wished they had closed more car lanes instead of having all the people on the cycle lanes.... no, we can't have car lanes closed, can we?