The Line Will Be Drawn Tonight At 8, but It Starts At 6:30 So It’s Getting Closer - mattpeck https://twitter.com/BromanceSays/status/1132771388855799456 ====== smichel17 I'm a little confused by the second tweet. Are they implying the show runs later on Saturdays than Wednesdays? If that's the case, "Line Will Be Drawn Tonight At 8" should be clarified so it's clear that the line opens before Saturdays start at 8. ~~~ btilly Yep. Because on Thursday they can fill up the night with new people and hopefully they'll get paid. They go to the night school on Wednesday, which starts at 6:30. I think this is more likely to be true of other cities than Detroit. Detroit is a long-standing problem that many of us believe is a good long-term bet. But we don't believe it's good idea to go there to find out. ~~~ smichel17 Yeah, they've definitely had some scandals involving "short changed" workers [0], so I wouldn't want to go. [0] [https://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/2018/11/wage-theft- prosec...](https://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/2018/11/wage-theft-prosecution- at-new-detroit-airport.html) ~~~ btilly Yeah I've seen that story too. It highlights one of the problems - there are people who think they can steal from people who are struggling financially. ------ schoen This article explains the concept: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streets_are_for_pedestrians](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streets_are_for_pedestrians) ------ btilly I was a little confused by this, so I looked up the Wikipedia entry on this. The one thing that struck me is that nobody is going to draw a line. ~~~ mieseratte This seems like it would be a great use for an Oculus Go. Would be pretty cool to "walk through" the line in some VR fashion. ~~~ btilly The point of the line is to be a visual reminder that pedestrian rights are not to be violated. Therefore the length of the line is the one thing that makes it easy to enforce. ~~~ phillc73 If that was the point then why wouldn't it be written on the road, or possibly a large sign, rather than a physical line? ~~~ btilly Because the aim of this is to remind people that pedestrians have rights because _pedestrians are supposed to have rights_. That is one of the few things that is universal, which is why it is something to hang a sign on. If I were to put one on the road, I'd make it something that reminds people of their existence, like an illustration that has no scale that says "Everyone comes before motorists". Even if you're not driving, the illustration says something about the importance of pedestrians. Because this is about inconvenience for motorists, I think the appropriate scale is "you". The fact that you can't really see the scale is not a bug, it's a feature! This type of sign is a pretty reliable way of making a pedestrian fall in love with you. ~~~ mieseratte > Everyone comes before motorists. Aside, but your quote is really nice, I'm a pedestrian myself. ~~~ btilly Thanks. That was an inspired choice. I've been trying to remember that since I've had the privilege of getting training in how to interact with people who are walking. I have also since had occasion to apply the rule on the street. ------ jmpman What ever happened to Detroiters voting with their feet and moving? ~~~ chrisbennet You have to really need to leave to even consider it. If you’re stuck with a job that can’t be avoided. ~~~ jmpman It’s odd that so many places seem like prison camps. You’re better off to live in squalor than try to escape. ~~~ btilly Yes. But we don't talk about poverty in the same way that we talk about it elsewhere in the world. For example, poverty in the USA is not on average that bad, there are lots of places that are very bad. So it makes sense to see places like Detroit as being in for a bad time. ~~~ schoen Yeah, and I think that's what's interesting about the fact that a lot of the commenters on this thread think people should just decide to be unhappy where they are. Most likely they won't do that, but the notion that you can decide that a particular place is so bad that you can't see how you could ever like it is maybe an artifact of how we talk about poverty and poverty relief in American English. ------ taylodl I had to Google "Detroit" to understand what I was reading, and then I read the article and was still befuddled. Aren't there any visual clues to help people? Maybe a physical line? A large sign with black and white lettering? Where can I learn more? ~~~ phillc73 Try: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedestrian_priority_in_the_Uni...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedestrian_priority_in_the_United_States) "The use of green (or yellow or red) traffic lights for pedestrians and cyclists, with or without pedestrian or bicycle only crosswalks, signals the presence of a special pedestrian priority zone on that street." From that webpage: "Although there are no universally agreed-upon dimensions, a typical area to be identified by a pedestrian signal with a green light for pedestrians might be a 30-foot area from the crosswalk at any point in the zone. In some places, the pedestrian signal may have an audible signal as well. A pedestrian signal on a busy street with heavy traffic could have a green time of one second for a car to pass before turning red for pedestrians and bicycles, or a flashing yellow light would indicate a very short green time." The area in question is quite small, although people were complaining about it being further away than a standard crosswalk. [https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/Detroit+Eastern+Blvd,+St...](https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/Detroit+Eastern+Blvd,+Stewart,+MI+48083/@42.7494719,84.2467193,17z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x80c9f4bcd4765c83:0x6495c27eecc4a2d) See the yellow-black crosswalks? The line is a physical thing, created by the paint on the road.