PSA: My local barber's lather experiment created a sidewalk foam party.

Neighbors were sliding through suds for an hour.

4 comments

4 Comments

Milwaukee's Phil's Barbershop had a similar bubble incident that stalled streetcars. It's a reminder that innovation in tight urban spaces often spills into the public realm.

hayden_ramirez3mo agoMost Upvoted

Totally, the spill zone mapping is the real key here. We actually ended up doing test runs at like 5 AM with a couple traffic cones to show the city exactly where our soap film would drift on a windy day (which saved our butts later). @michael_lopez53 has a point about the fines, but in my experience if you bring the transit people into the conversation super early, they're more likely to work with you on a solution instead of just punishing you. It turns into a shared problem to fix, not just a violation. That way the cool project can still happen, just with some extra planning for the public stuff around it.

sean_green443mo ago

Ever dealt with a city permitting office for something that seems silly, like bubble output? I had to pressure test our foam generator's drift radius before we got a park permit. The key is mapping the "spill zone" and pre-negotiating with transit and public works. If you show them a mitigation plan first, they're way less likely to hit you with fines later when something inevitably goes a little sideways, lol.

michael_lopez533mo ago

Yeah, focusing on how innovation spills into the public realm shows how liability laws aren't ready for these accidents. If a bubble can stop streetcars, cities might start slamming startups with huge fines for disruption. That chilling effect could kill cool urban projects before they even start.