I started writing a long comparison of how local governments, in the two small cities of Miyakonojo and Halifax, handle closing off streets for events. But it really came down to one main difference.
That difference? Cops and fences all over Halifax. Control over the public and fear of losing that control motivate how things will be set up. And the deep seated belief that having a beer in your hand outdoors means everyone be stabbing each other after an hour.
I know where this poor attitude came from, historically speaking. We were colonized by the English, history's most ill-behaved visitors, and they left behind a large military presence that dominated the city for centuries. Good for our prostitutes and drinking establishments, bad for the people who had to clean up after the weekly drunken rampages the sailor boys went on.
I'm in that timeless state that comes with being semi-retired, but even I am aware that it's no longer 1942. We don't need to be afraid drunken sailors stabbing each other. We also don't have lead in the pipes, paint, or car exhaust either. We have improved as a society and we don't need heavily armed cops everywhere making sure you don't step outside with a beer in hand.
Well, we don't need heavily armed cops in general. But that's another social ill for another time.
