Closing Broad Ripple Ave.

[Bravo-4-2]

It falls under the heading "Never Waste a Crisis." The traffic on BRA has nothing to do with the problem. It's something for the City to put a spotlight on and tell the people "look, we're addressing the problem." No....all they're doing is covering their own azzes. Closing the avenue will have no positive affect at all. It doesn't address the problem.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

The difference is that parades, craft fairs, etc. are events with a specific purpose that go through a process for getting the permit, etc. This is just another vaguely-defined "we gotta do sumthin" action.

All I can tell you is that when we started doing it downtown before the bars let out it greatly reduced fights, and fights sometimes lead to shootings.

When traffic can get in, people want to stand on the sidewalk and let their driver come to them. Especially women in shoes that aren't made for walking. You have women standing around, you have men sniffing around them in packs. Fights break out. People get hurt.

Shut down the streets, some police can be on the sidewalk among the pedestrians, some in the street to be able to see further and move faster. The ladies walk to their cars, the men follow the scent trail, the crowds disperse, fewer fights, fewer people get hurt.

I understand that it may not seem like it matters to someone without all the facts or experience, but having worked crowd control in the bar districts for many years, it does.

 

[Cameramonkey]

i read the title of the post and hoped you were saying they were just shutting down the whole street for good! too bad, i remember years ago when it was the "cool" place to go, boy was i dumb. Too many bad things happens on that street. thats why i wised up and no longer visit that area. One less place to have a stray bullet find ya.

I have MANY fond, foggy memories of BR from the late 90's. Oh how times have changed.

 

[IndyDave1776]

We do it all the time. The circle gets closed off from time to time. Georgia St as well depending on the event. BR is *******s to elbows on the sidewalks on the weekends. We do the same thing on S Meridian St when it gets really busy.

Originally Posted by Denny347
BR is elbow-to-elbow *******s on the sidewalks on the weekends.

Fixed it for you.

*Dave stands up after falling off chair laughing*

 

[Hop]

All I can tell you is that when we started doing it downtown before the bars let out it greatly reduced fights, and fights sometimes lead to shootings.

When traffic can get in, people want to stand on the sidewalk and let their driver come to them. Especially women in shoes that aren't made for walking. You have women standing around, you have men sniffing around them in packs. Fights break out. People get hurt.

Shut down the streets, some police can be on the sidewalk among the pedestrians, some in the street to be able to see further and move faster. The ladies walk to their cars, the men follow the scent trail, the crowds disperse, fewer fights, fewer people get hurt.

I understand that it may not seem like it matters to someone without all the facts or experience, but having worked crowd control in the bar districts for many years, it does.

Hmm, makes more sense now. Thanks for the info. I was more of an occational people watching cruiser not a drunk staggering around on sidewalks.

 

[horsehaulin]

They shut down Sixth St in Austin Texas four to five nights a week and the whe street becomes a huge party. Problems there thinned out after doing so and it increased the business for the bars. Give it time and you, along with those that visit there often will be happier.

 

[Jludo]

They are doing it because somebody shot 7 people in a drive by two weekens ago, correct? The shutting down the street to traffic isn't completely out of the blue

 

[sj kahr k40]

They are doing it because somebody shot 7 people in a drive by two weekens ago, correct? The shutting down the street to traffic isn't completely out of the blue

No drive by, 2 guys bumped into each other on the sidewalk and shot at each other

 

[IndyDave1776]

No drive by, 2 guys bumped into each other on the sidewalk and shot at each other

I guess we have come full circle! First came drive-by shootings. Then about 20 years ago there was a thug in Terre Haute who apparently couldn't afford a car who was doing ride-by shootings on a bicycle. Now we have walk-by shootings.