Friday, February 18, 2011

Where The Sidewalk Ends

View of our neighborhood, note, no sidewalks!
Also not this time of year!
And I'm not talking about Shel Siverstein's book!  For some reason American builders and developers have decided that we don't need sidewalks to walk on any more. I know Americans drive every where, but we do walk and I'm tired of walking in the street.
Why you ask don't they put in sidewalks, well I don't know, my guess is to save money, it certainly isn't to save lives.
We walk every day through our neighborhood but we walk in the street it's either that or on people's lawn and we don't want to do that, wouldn't want others walking on mine.  And though most cars slow down to the posted speed limit (10 mph) others fly through here risking my life and limb.  And I really love when they fly through puddles splashing water without the least consideration.
The school bus that comes here only stops at the entrance to our neighborhood so children as young as 4 or 5 must walk in the street to get to the bus or home.  Many people drive their kids to the entrance and pick them up for safety's sake, it would save gas if the kids could walk.
I would think that when developers submit their plans to the local planning commission that sidewalks would be considered a necessity, not a luxury, though in some developments that how their marketed.  "New family-orientated neighborhood with front porches and sidewalks. " I grew up with sidewalks, everyone had them but now they're disappearing .  Well I want a sidewalk, but I guess that short of moving I'm probably not going to get any--pooh!

2 comments:

  1. Hello, thanks for dropping by my blog. No idea about sidewalks. Thy don't always build them here either. Possibly you could paint a line down the road a couple of feet from the edge thereby creating your own sidewalk. Maybe even drivers would respect it. "Please observe the painted sidewalk area" a notice might say. You could pioneer something that might be replicated all over the United States. Good Luck!

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  2. Is it a new neighbourhood? My dad was involved in planning a new town in the UK, and the planners don't put paths in... They wait and see where people walk, ie when the grass is worn, or bushes pushed apart, and then, a year or so later, put paths where people generally walk!

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