[ghaff]

In big eastern US cities, there's been much more of a "whatever won't get you run down" approach to intersections than was historically the case out west. At least a couple decades ago, western cities had a reputation for ticketing pedestrians for crossing against lights that would have been laughable in e.g. NYC.

[borbulon]

9 years ago when I worked in Downtown Seattle, crossing against the light could get you a ticket, even at 630 in the morning. Nobody was driving, and they still insisted that you wait.