Photo: @lizkaster - via KFnet in T-Town
Crossing the street can be quite dangerous, so when the city of Tacoma, Washington, didn't do anything to make it safer for pedestrians, vigilantes took matters into their own hands and painted rogue crosswalks and a bike lane.
According to Lewis Kamb of The Nws Tribune:
Some business owners and residents in the burgeoning neighborhood just north of City Hall said the unauthorized crosswalk — which unidentified parties painted on the west side of St. Helens Avenue between Sixth Avenue and Baker Street — illustrates a growing frustration with the city.
“We have a lot of cars just blowing through here, and we’re concerned,” said Morgan Alexander, owner of the nearby Amocat Café. “We actually asked the city to take some action. But they really haven’t done anything.”
Well, the accusation that the City wasn't doing anything is not technically correct: they sprang into action ... and erased the rogue crosswalks (which cost the city thousands of dollars in public works). They've also threatened to pursue legal action against this form of "vandalism." Word on the street is that they're analyzing paint chips and such.
But according to RR Anderson of The Tacomic, the vigilante crosswalk bandit, whoever he is, is not going to let the city walk all over him:
http://www.ruethedayblog.com/2009/05/guerilla-city-planning-taking-it-to-the-streets/