I live in a rural area, so no sidewalks here. Also, while my neighborhood is quiet it is off a busy street, so we just don't get any walking traffic except people who live here. It would honestly look funny to me to have sidewalks here.
My mother's neighborhood has sidewalks, but at most of them are old and have been cracked/buckled by tree stumps. It is definitely not within any ADA codes. They get a lot of walkers/joggers/dog walkers (several dozen every day) but because the neighborhood is so quiet, they generally stick to the street, even in summer. In winter, when I have to clear the walks for her, my biggest challenge is that I don't like using the ice melt on the sidewalk across the front of the house because of the dog walkers - if they do try the sidewalks instead of the road, I'd rather not add to the chemicals their paws pick up.
You can buy paw friendly salt. It's pretty much the same price. It doesn't seem to bother my dog when we use it on the driveway.
... you're right, you can. And I do use that at my house. My mother, however, is old-school and cheap. If it isn't rock salt, then it's whatever is the cheapest crap she can find.
I'm over here LOL-ing at the reference to a "couple of inches" of snow. COOL STORY, BRO. Talk to me when you get a foot of snow.
And no, I do not carry my mini-shovel that I have only for digging out my car around with me so that I can shovel random people's sidewalks.
Right? It takes a few hours to clear my own sidewalk after a storm, sometimes the better part of a day if we get 2+ feet. There’s no way I’m doing that for the 20+ not shoveled sidewalks between my house and the train station and schools.
Our town actually does have a system to pair 6-12th grade volunteers with those who can’t do their own shoveling (and it’s fully a thing where if you ask to be paired you are, nobody questions if you’re old enough or disabled or anything), and my oldest will sign up next year because it’s a critical way to help the community that often goes overlooked.
So, as you can see, people have very strong ideas about sidewalks. Our surveyors have had people pull guns on them when out surveying to implement sidewalk connections on city owned right of way.
Meh, dog owners can wrestle boots onto their pooches' feet.* Look, I don't hate dogs or anything, but I'm far more concerned about the safety of my mail carrier, elderly people, and those with disabilities.
*Is this going to kick off 6 pages about how your dog just will not tolerate doggie boots? Aaaaaaand go.
Post by marathon55 on Mar 13, 2018 12:42:25 GMT -5
This thread is way too long for the topic but oh well I’ll contribute to its insanity.
Sidewalks yes! It’s family friendly, creates community, allows kids a separate passage to friends that they don’t need to share with cars.
Affluent people who don’t like sidewalks are idiots and sound like people no one would want to visit via sidewalk or road.
I support calling the police on chronic non sidewalk shovelers if that’s the only channel you have. City or suburbs people need to step up. Get a snow blower and it takes all of 2 mins to do a pass in each direction.
OH! My husband obliterated his ankle while out hanging tags for code enforcement for people to shovel their sidewalks. I feel like some people in this thread might feel like that's karma re: working for the gubmint for fining people.
Meh, dog owners can wrestle boots onto their pooches' feet.* Look, I don't hate dogs or anything, but I'm far more concerned about the safety of my mail carrier, elderly people, and those with disabilities.
*Is this going to kick off 6 pages about how your dog just will not tolerate doggie boots? Aaaaaaand go.
OH! My husband obliterated his ankle while out hanging tags for code enforcement for people to shovel their sidewalks. I feel like some people in this thread might feel like that's karma re: working for the gubmint for fining people.
The same people who park illegally and then curse out the person who gives them a fine, I'm sure.
Post by Velar Fricative on Mar 13, 2018 12:44:01 GMT -5
Next time I walk to the train station (ALL ON SIDEWALKS), I am going to bring a giant shovel with me and shovel people's sidewalks as I walk along. Because that's normal.
So, as you can see, people have very strong ideas about sidewalks. Our surveyors have had people pull guns on them when out surveying to implement sidewalk connections on city owned right of way.
that's horrible. no excuse for that.
but how does this work? (I'm guess it's different in different cities/counties.) Like in my neighborhood where the streets are already fairly narrow and the lots are small. I don't see how they could possibly make the streets more narrow, so it looks like they'd have to use land on people's existing property.
As I said earlier, my particular street has sidewalks bc of the bus route, but on one of the streets I'm thinking of that doesn't, if they put a sidewalk in (similar in size to mine), it would almost be up to the front door of some of the houses. I'm all for sidewalks, but I'm curious about the mechanism of telling folks that their front yards are going to shrink.
Post by Velar Fricative on Mar 13, 2018 12:47:16 GMT -5
Also, in my vast experience dealing with municipal departments of NJ, I am certain penguingrrl's calls about the sidewalks were the most excitement the police department got that day. And it's pretty easy to find the mayor; it is not the same as me trying to track down my mayor, the mayor of the biggest city in America. Plus, various police departments have these things called non-emergency numbers so that calling about unshoveled sidewalks isn't impeding an ambulance getting to someone who suffered a heart attack.
Though not in my town, many local towns do have ordinances that home owners have to shovel x # of feet of town sidewalks within 12 hours of the snow stopping or be fined.
Also, in my vast experience dealing with municipal departments of NJ, I am certain penguingrrl's calls about the sidewalks were the most excitement the police department got that day. And it's pretty easy to find the mayor; it is not the same as me trying to track down my mayor, the mayor of the biggest city in America. Plus, various police departments have these things called non-emergency numbers so that calling about unshoveled sidewalks isn't impeding an ambulance getting to someone who suffered a heart attack.
Yup, my town is 2.5 square miles with fewer than 6,000 residents and a low crime rate. A cat stuck brings out the entire (all volunteer) fire department because it’s a big event. The police non emergency line is for things like code enforcement. The mayor’s wife is active on the town moms FB page.
And while we don’t fine for shoveling, too long grass will bring a fine, also enforced by the police because we aren’t busy enough to pay a police force and a separate code official. We have a judge once a month, shared with surrounding similar municipalities.
I can see it being a matter of personal preference. I had sidewalks in my old neighborhood & never used them. In some neighborhoods with large lots (1 acre+) it wasn't realy necessary, but almost all the smaller neighborhoods around here, that are 50 years or younger, they have them.
Maybe b/c we had ltos of trees, but they always had cracks and uneven edges. They weren't really wide enough to run on side-by-side, so we always ran in the street. They were fine for running solo with my dog, but I had to be careful since I run in the dark. Also, where lots of people park in the driveway, their cars block the sidewalk, so you had to go into the street anyway.
Once I had a baby (newborn), I didn't like dealing with all the bumps/ramps, so we ran/walked in the street.
Also, I forgot to mention that people who park in a driveway but block the sidewalk are FUCKING ASSHOLES.
Post by rachelgreen on Mar 13, 2018 12:54:43 GMT -5
I have varying experiences with them. I grew up in and around Chicago with divorced parents. My city streets had sidewalks obviously. My suburbs were a mix of sidewalks and not. When my dh and I first relocated to WI, we were technically rural and had no sidewalks, although many areas of the nearest town did have them. Now that we are in the burbs of Milwaukee, we are in one of the no sidewalk suburbs. The lots are all half acre or more minimum and hilly. This particular neighborhood isn’t walkable and generally cars don’t go speeding through so people are still always out walking, jogging, biking, etc. It’s actually fairly busy pediestrian-wise all things considering. I guess I don’t mind this particular version of no sidewalks but if I was in a different location, I’d like them.
So, as you can see, people have very strong ideas about sidewalks. Our surveyors have had people pull guns on them when out surveying to implement sidewalk connections on city owned right of way.
that's horrible. no excuse for that.
but how does this work? (I'm guess it's different in different cities/counties.) Like in my neighborhood where the streets are already fairly narrow and the lots are small. I don't see how they could possibly make the streets more narrow, so it looks like they'd have to use land on people's existing property.
As I said earlier, my particular street has sidewalks bc of the bus route, but on one of the streets I'm thinking of that doesn't, if they put a sidewalk in (similar in size to mine), it would almost be up to the front door of some of the houses. I'm all for sidewalks, but I'm curious about the mechanism of telling folks that their front yards are going to shrink.
Eminent domain. Or a public access easement.
eta: I suppose I could elaborate - for eminent domain you basically get a letter saying the county/town/city/whatever wants to buy x amount of your property. They assess it. they offer you a value. You either accept or don't. You can't say no to selling it (I mean....you can, but taking them to court and claiming it's not a valid public use. which for a sidewalk is a losing proposition), but you can haggle your ass off on the cost if you have anything to back it up. Then they take your land. They can take your whole house if they need to. it's just expensive since they have to pay a fair value so local governments are going to avoid that whenever possible becuase they only have so much money for the project.
A public access easment - some places will do this, others won't. depends. but you basically agree, legally, to allow public access across some portion of your property in perpetuity. it gets recorded on your lot, and whoever buys your place will have to allow the same access.
I'm over here LOL-ing at the reference to a "couple of inches" of snow. COOL STORY, BRO. Talk to me when you get a foot of snow.
And no, I do not carry my mini-shovel that I have only for digging out my car around with me so that I can shovel random people's sidewalks.
I don’t even live where it snows! I’m just amused by the confidence of knowing exactly how she would respond when access to her house is blocked by mountains of snow. Not every city has a 311 system.
Yup.
When we lived in the city and our sidewalk was all of 12 feet, eh, sure, we'd shovel a little extra in both directions. Help out the neighbors. whatever.
But now in the burbs? We have a driveway to contend with and ... geez, I don't even know how long our front property line is. It's ALOT. If we can use our snow blower, sure, we'll do some of the neighbors. one neighbor has a HUGE snowblower and if he gets out first, he'll do our whole court. It's great.
however, if he doesn't and/or the snow is too much for our blower... um, yeah, I'll break my back over MY property but not my neighbors! We were lucky this winter - next to no snow. But previous winters? we've been slammed and doing just our property takes a LOT of time and energy.
But yeah.... I'll walk around the neighborhood and just shovel everyone else out who hasn't done it yet.
Post by mrsukyankee on Mar 13, 2018 13:03:43 GMT -5
I grew up w/o sidewalks in an area that was between suburb and rural. I got used to it but I would have LOVED sidewalks as going running could be dangerous at times.
I can see it being a matter of personal preference. I had sidewalks in my old neighborhood & never used them. In some neighborhoods with large lots (1 acre+) it wasn't realy necessary, but almost all the smaller neighborhoods around here, that are 50 years or younger, they have them.
Maybe b/c we had ltos of trees, but they always had cracks and uneven edges. They weren't really wide enough to run on side-by-side, so we always ran in the street. They were fine for running solo with my dog, but I had to be careful since I run in the dark. Also, where lots of people park in the driveway, their cars block the sidewalk, so you had to go into the street anyway.
Once I had a baby (newborn), I didn't like dealing with all the bumps/ramps, so we ran/walked in the street.
Also, I forgot to mention that people who park in a driveway but block the sidewalk are FUCKING ASSHOLES.
WAIT WHAT I skipped to the end thinking someone had somehow made sidewalks !DRAMATIC!, but we're on page 5 and still just talking about sidewalks?
sidewalks are serious business.
we've got some various branches of sidewalk talk. How are they paid for, who should shovel them, how do they get built, who needs them, where should they be...it's a big topic. (says the transportation engineer)