When I was a researcher at Colorado State University, I worked with a charming and affable gentleman who came from New Orleans.  Around this time one year, he brought a “King cake” into the office.  With all the office members save one–a graduate student who was out working in the field that morning–gathered around, he explained the King cake is a Mardi Gras tradition.  It looked essentially like a round danish with a hole in the middle.  The gentleman explained there was a small, plastic baby Jesus hidden inside, and whoever found it was supposed to bring the King cake next year.  We all had a piece and discussed fun, colorful traditions from our home locations.

Later that day I was working at my desk and I saw a flash go past the doorway–the graduate student who had missed the King cake explanation had returned from the field and was headed for our main office room.   As the little ticker in my head ran across saying “Oh, I should probably go tell him…..” I heard, “SON OF A BITCH!” from the next room followed by “WHY IS THERE A PLASTIC BABY IN THE DANISH!!!??”.   So if your coworker brings in a King cake–you have been warned.

There’s this idea, put forth first by the famous urban commentator, Jane Jacobs, of “eyes on the street”, in other words, lots of people around the neighborhood all the time keeping an eye on things reduces crime.  New urbanist planners promote this as one of the benefits of new urbanist neighborhood design, and I can comment with some authority that in my new urbanist neighborhood at least, it works.  There is one specific example I can think of, but many others have happened.  

We have a central park, called Bradburn Green, which has a large concrete patio and large concrete planters.  This feature attracts skateboarders, and while I think skateboarding is fun and great exercise, we don’t allow skateboarding in our park for liability and damage concerns; there’s a great skate park less than a mile from my neighborhood and the kids can go there.  Last summer there was a small group of idle teenagers that found our neighborhood park, decided to take it upon themselves to remove the “No Skateboarding” sign, and to proceed to grind the edges of our concrete planters causing significant (and expensive) damage. 

This occurred a total of three times.  The reason it didn’t occur more?  They were there in the middle of the day the first day and I saw them and so did other neighbors.  One neighbor went over to speak to them and tell them we don’t allow skateboarding, and they called her a bitch in front of her small children.  So we called the cops, (who showed up in about 10 minutes) but they had left.  The next day they showed up again, same time.  Two other neighbors harangued them about the second they got there.  Next day, they showed up again, same time.  This time one of the neighbors who lives across the park went over to speak with them and said,

“Many people in this neighborhood work at home or are at home during the day.  Everyone knows about you and the damage you are causing and will call the police if you are seen here again. You are never going to be in this park for more than 10 minutes without someone noticing.  I suggest you find somewhere else to skateboard.  We are always watching”.

We’ve never seen them again.