The Ezra party is unstoppable and to try to do so would be even more dangerous and expensive than anything. And I think this is a good thing. It really speaks to the inner libertarian. I mean we have to learn about all these abstract philosophies and ideals we'll never care about for the rest of our lives or get to put into practical use.....might as well get a brief period one day of the year to have a case study.
The Ezra party attracts more than enough population to be declared a town. I say this half sarcastically. That's the will of a lot of people to stop. It would take no less than a military response to completely halt the Ezra party; and that's just that particular location. You now have 20,000 like-minded people who will be pissed and take it somewhere else. All the issues will simply migrate or - worse - split into different areas.
In terms of harm reduction, Ezra is a pretty good deal. You have everybody willing to stay in a localized area. Yes this is a public street but in non-legal (realistic) terms, is it really? There is not a single residence of "real" people on Ezra, Clayfield, or the whole non-Laurier side Bricker. No not every student likes the party but a massive majority (near totality) are either pro-party or neutral. There's no pressing need whatsoever for the community at large to use these streets for anything. And indeed day-by-day does any non-student ever even pay attention to these areas any more than a passing on King or Albert? Sure it's still not the safest thing but could you ask for any better place for it to happen?
Emergency costs: Well at least we can say Ezra is a direct route straight to the first hospital. Yes it's a strain but let it serve as perhaps a good disaster preparedness drill. It at least has the element of safety in that we know it's coming and that most alcohol related admissions just require time to sober up rather than a lengthy stay with serious injuries.
Laws: Almost all laws broken pertain to alcohol and the government has already instituted a monopoly to pay for this anyway. The millions of dollars in liquor sales for this day are going somewhere right?
Aside from that, 99+% of attendees are good-natured and just out for a good time. The very few scumbags are dealt with swiftly and harshly and rightfully so. They are the ones the police should be after and really for 20,000+ people they are very few. This year I hear of one troupe of complete scumbag cowardice that were out simply looking to surround and gang beat people. The police were tipped off by others and they were promptly removed. That could just have likely happened on a dark street at any time though.
Also the fact that there hasn't been a riot or any serious violent outburst other than some idiots throwing bottles at times shows that Waterloo Region has class. People coming here remember that and tend to chose to hold up that value. Unlike those fools down in London....
It has a self-clean-up mechanism that is miraculous. If someone arrived back at Ezra in the late AM the next day and was told there was a 20,000+ street party there just 18 or so hours earlier you'd have a hard time convincing them. There's money to be made in those empties and it's a gold mine for anyone who wants to go clean them up. The students clean up the rest of the remaining garbage. It certainly doesn't leave a lasting litter impact like any other festival.
There was also a significant collection of older people who came to the region this year just to check it out. No doubt they put money into local hotels and venues. I assume they just wanted to feel young again and in turn they provide a bit of stability in the crowds as well just as a non-authoritarian senior presence.
As someone who's partied and worked Ezra, I think it's safe to say it will not be shut down. It just isn't possible without spending far more money and incurring far more injuries. Again, it is no exaggeration that you would have to bring in the Canadian Armed Forces to totally stop this party. And then it would just span out like pouring water on a grease fire.
Also it irritates me every time I see it. The place is called Ezra AVENUE, not Street.
The Ezra party attracts more than enough population to be declared a town. I say this half sarcastically. That's the will of a lot of people to stop. It would take no less than a military response to completely halt the Ezra party; and that's just that particular location. You now have 20,000 like-minded people who will be pissed and take it somewhere else. All the issues will simply migrate or - worse - split into different areas.
In terms of harm reduction, Ezra is a pretty good deal. You have everybody willing to stay in a localized area. Yes this is a public street but in non-legal (realistic) terms, is it really? There is not a single residence of "real" people on Ezra, Clayfield, or the whole non-Laurier side Bricker. No not every student likes the party but a massive majority (near totality) are either pro-party or neutral. There's no pressing need whatsoever for the community at large to use these streets for anything. And indeed day-by-day does any non-student ever even pay attention to these areas any more than a passing on King or Albert? Sure it's still not the safest thing but could you ask for any better place for it to happen?
Emergency costs: Well at least we can say Ezra is a direct route straight to the first hospital. Yes it's a strain but let it serve as perhaps a good disaster preparedness drill. It at least has the element of safety in that we know it's coming and that most alcohol related admissions just require time to sober up rather than a lengthy stay with serious injuries.
Laws: Almost all laws broken pertain to alcohol and the government has already instituted a monopoly to pay for this anyway. The millions of dollars in liquor sales for this day are going somewhere right?
Aside from that, 99+% of attendees are good-natured and just out for a good time. The very few scumbags are dealt with swiftly and harshly and rightfully so. They are the ones the police should be after and really for 20,000+ people they are very few. This year I hear of one troupe of complete scumbag cowardice that were out simply looking to surround and gang beat people. The police were tipped off by others and they were promptly removed. That could just have likely happened on a dark street at any time though.
Also the fact that there hasn't been a riot or any serious violent outburst other than some idiots throwing bottles at times shows that Waterloo Region has class. People coming here remember that and tend to chose to hold up that value. Unlike those fools down in London....
It has a self-clean-up mechanism that is miraculous. If someone arrived back at Ezra in the late AM the next day and was told there was a 20,000+ street party there just 18 or so hours earlier you'd have a hard time convincing them. There's money to be made in those empties and it's a gold mine for anyone who wants to go clean them up. The students clean up the rest of the remaining garbage. It certainly doesn't leave a lasting litter impact like any other festival.
There was also a significant collection of older people who came to the region this year just to check it out. No doubt they put money into local hotels and venues. I assume they just wanted to feel young again and in turn they provide a bit of stability in the crowds as well just as a non-authoritarian senior presence.
As someone who's partied and worked Ezra, I think it's safe to say it will not be shut down. It just isn't possible without spending far more money and incurring far more injuries. Again, it is no exaggeration that you would have to bring in the Canadian Armed Forces to totally stop this party. And then it would just span out like pouring water on a grease fire.
Also it irritates me every time I see it. The place is called Ezra AVENUE, not Street.