Apparently Councilwoman Sharon Zadra wants a “code of conduct” that can be enforced on downtown Reno’s plazas.
A code of conduct for a space such as a public plaza is something that seems not only completely unnecessary but also perhaps unenforceable. There are already laws regarding what is and is not acceptable behavior in public places. People can be arrested or removed for those things.
Reno’s plazas – currently I’m thinking of two: West St Plaza (where I just had a sandwich) and City Hall, are bustling havens of activity especially on beautiful summer weekend days when there are people out enjoying the river, skateboarders, people on bicycles, friends and families walking around having a good time, enjoying the restaurants and shops that line the area.
Occasionally with the territory comes some profanity or a loud noise – and let’s face it, Reno’s got some characters. Tattoos, piercings, age, weather, and just plain mental illness populate downtown with a varied and colorful crowd. Rarely on the plazas, however, does anything even remotely approaching dangerous happen.
This code of conduct thing should not even make it to a staff report – but it will. Things like it and the ban on open containers downtown are a symptom of what I would argue is a dangerous instinct that is thankfully not always followed. Still it is an instinct to create a more “ideal” or “safe” scene or environment. It’s understandable to want to have a safe, ideal environment – but going about “having” that the wrong way could backfire.
A town that wants to have people come to party in the streets shouldn’t make it illegal to party in the streets. A town that wants a colorful, dedicated group of people committed to creating street life shouldn’t chase them out of the spaces they enliven. Nothing is less safe or ideal than a dead zone created of an area that was once intensively used for a purpose but which is now not used for any real purpose. It is left to the reader to connect cause and effect.
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