Category: sidewalks

I’m not looking at you

Dan AllisonLeave a comment

Everywhere I travel, and walk, most other people walking will at least glance at me, and often acknowledge or smile, and sometimes say hi or good morning or good evening, or even talk. But that is rare in Sacramento. At least on the sidewalk, this is the least friendly place I’ve ever lived.

People passing look studiously at their phones, as though there were something important there, or look at the ground, or look away to the other side. 95% of people walking will not make eye contact, let alone give a positive vibe.

Why is this a transportation issue? The message is that I am an island (Simon and Garfunkel), I don’t need you, I don’t acknowledge you, I don’t care about you. Communities are built on trust, and trust does not occur if people don’t interact with other people. Sacramento (the city and region) has serious problems that can only be solved by group action and personal engagement. In particular, we have a very serious problem with traffic violence. That we are so bad at solving our problems is not surprising when we don’t think of anyone else except close friends as ‘our people’. Of course this is worse since the pandemic, but it has existing as long as I have lived in Sacramento (14 years) and spent time in Sacramento (22 years).

Is it different elsewhere? Yes, it is. In San Francisco, almost everyone I pass on the sidewalk will at least nod their head, and frequently more. Los Angeles. Portland. Seattle. Las Vegas. Denver. Salt Lake City. San Diego. And on and on.

I am very sad about this. But I do not know the cause, and I do not know the solution.

Denver’s approach to sidewalk maintenance

Dan Allison3 Comments

Denver is implementing a unique approach to sidewalk maintenance (Denver’s Sidewalk Program). Rather than making the individual property owner responsible for sidewalk maintenance, the city will charge all property owners a fee which will be pooled city-wide to maintain or install sidewalks. It is a flat fee for most parcels, but with a progressive fee based on sidewalk footage for parcels with a lot of sidewalk.

The City of Sacramento, and most governments in California, make sidewalk maintenance the responsibility of individual property owners. State law allows this, though does not require it. You can see the results for yourself: broken sidewalks due to root heaves, discontinuous sidewalks, lack of ADA ramps. And the city and cities within the county and the county are not the worst in California. If you want to see truly horrible sidewalks, visit the City of Los Angeles, where root heaves from too narrow sidewalk buffers have broken or destroyed most sidewalks in the city.

Denver, recognizing that the model of individual property owners paying was not working, and under the threat of lawsuits, decided to take a different approach, making maintenance and installation the responsibility of all property owners. This is an immense improvement over the Sacramento and California model, though still falls short.

Sidewalks are a part of our transportation network, in fact are the most important part of that network. As such, they should be maintained, and gaps filled, as part of the regular transportation budget of cities, counties and the state. Making them a special case with special funding, or ignoring them completely, leads to a deteriorated and missing sidewalk network that actively discriminates against people who use the sidewalks to walk, roll, and, in some cases, bicycle. Every broken sidewalk and every missing sidewalk is a abject failure of the government to fulfill its responsibility to citizens to create a transportation system that serves everyone. Transportation engineers will always, if given the choice, prioritize motor vehicles over everyone and everything else, so we must compel them to meet their true responsibilities.

photo of broken sidewalk and missing sidewalk, Capitol Mall & 3rd St, Sacramento
broken sidewalk and missing sidewalk, Capitol Mall & 3rd St, Sacramento