I saw the ski jumping yesterday on Fillmore Street. It was exciting, with a few spills and a
cheering audience. A big crowd, as big
as could fit in the area and still see the jumps.
How this happened in stodgy, romantic San Francisco I don’t know. But events do seem to get through the bureaucracy. Most of the exciting ones don’t bother. This one had to in order to block four streets for a day and a half.
The crowd was so thick I noticed a new problem for urban events. Dogs on leashes create havoc with tight-crowded-people flow. The dogs and leashes are like a police barrier --- hard to get around.
Terrorists and anti-terrorists take note: I first noticed this at the anniversary event for the Golden Gate Bridge where so many people were on the bridge that it flattened out. People brought bicycles. The bicycles made people flow impossible. Ten bicycles would block the flow of ten thousand people. In a panic, ten bicycles would kill thousands who couldn’t move. Dogs on leases couldn’t be as dangerous because the dogs would be trampled.
Dogs are the new urban children. We are going to have to start thinking about the unique problems they bring.