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A lot of cities clearly do not care about pedistrians and people who don't/can't drive by not equipting their cities with consistant sidewalks.
The best city I have lived in for sidewalks was Fargo, North Dakota. You could almost always count on a sidewalk in any part of town, mainly because they were required by an ordinance. Of course, in Fargo, the sidewalks were covered in snow half the year, and it was sometimes -30 if you were walking.
So which other cities actually seem to care by making sidewalks a priority and having them in almost all areas, not just Downtown?
I believe it is mandatory in Philadelphia for ALL streets to have sidewalks (sans highways) - I also believe that all the streets in most of the closer in suburbs also do - frankly I think it would be odd to find a street without a sidewalk
But agree on the snow - I think they are supoosed to be cleared within a few hours of snow stopping - we are responsible for the snow in front of our houses
I've never lived in a city that did not have sidewalks. (I did live in one large town that had had sidewalks in some areas not others) I can't remember visiting any cities where I encountered lack of sidewalks, either, although admittedly I haven't visited every city in the country.
Cities that are intensely lobbied by developers can be lax on sidewalks. San Antonio was one of those until the late 1990's, when they were mandated on all new construction projects. Consequently, there are sidewalks that lead to worn out grass in a lot of areas.
Although all cities have sidewalks there are cities and towns where the sidewalks are poorly maintained or what not. This matters a good deal to me as a wheelchair user. I might have to check Fargo out someday!
I don't know anywhere in Chicago that wouldn't have sidewalks. It doesn't seem rational not to have them.
Everywhere in Iowa had them where I lived. Iowa City, Des Moines, Cedar Rapids. Maybe somewhere semi-rural with huge lots out away from the urban area - but certainly never in town.
Cities that are intensely lobbied by developers can be lax on sidewalks. San Antonio was one of those until the late 1990's, when they were mandated on all new construction projects. Consequently, there are sidewalks that lead to worn out grass in a lot of areas.
Jefferson City, Missouri is a lot like this. I think all new development is now required to have sidewalks, and so we have some nice new sidewalks, but only near new development in the past 3 years. In several places, the sidewalks just stop where the newer development ends and goes into older development. Otherwise, it is lots of worn out grass and curbs. We have a lot of hills too, and so having a sidewalks is so nice and much safer.
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