Let’s say you drive over a pothole in front of your house in Denver and call the city. They will come and fix it in a few days. Solve the problem.
Now let’s say the problem is the sidewalk in front of your house. You call the city again.
Until recently, city staff have offered you their “A homeowner’s do-it-yourself guide to dangerous sidewalks,” where it clearly states that “sidewalk maintenance is the responsibility of the adjacent property owner.” This online document then suggests that if you need to remove a tripping hazard from your sidewalk, you should a “Masonry Rotary GrinderFrom your local rental centre.
Don’t forget to get yourself some eye protection.
In most US cities, a pothole is considered a public problem, but a broken sidewalk — even one that blocks access — is considered a homeowner’s problem.
This is not the case everywhere. In some older US cities like Boston and Washington, sidewalks have long been a public responsibility—just like roads, water lines, and sewers. But cities that grew up in a different era — or cities eager to offload maintenance and legal responsibilities — treat sidewalks not as basic infrastructure but as a The facility is attached to the adjacent property.
More than that Three-quarters of the 30 most populous US cities Take the same approach.
But not Denver — at least, not anymore. In 2022, the city changed its rules, not because city leaders suddenly changed course, but because lawyers like Jill Locantore And when the Denver Street Partnership got tired of waiting, organized and took the issue to the ballot. Denver allows For citizens to make lawsand measurement hand wonMake sidewalks a public duty.
Denver sidewalk information
Denver ended up with one Citywide sidewalk program Funded through a fee on property owners, typically $150 per household per year, and administered by the city. Instead of individual homeowners trying to fix bad sidewalks one section at a time, Denver now has a system — and can bond funds against it — to repair, build and maintain sidewalks as a connected public network.
Los Angeles underscores the conflict. Laws there still state that adjacent property owners are responsible for sidewalk maintenance; Still, the city also Runs a public repair program Later for major pavement projects Year of ADA Litigation made it clear that this is not just a personal matter.
But most cities don’t know which sidewalks need fixing.
When I first took my job at the University of Colorado Denver in 2009, I taught an introduction to GIS course, where students learned to use digital maps to understand real-world problems. To prepare for that class, I dug into the city’s data and came away impressed by the fact that they had one pavement levelBasically a digital map of city sidewalks. However, unlike almost every GIS dataset provided by the city, the sidewalk has not been updated since 2004. The argument seemed to be that not seeing the problem would protect you from liability. But sticking your head in the sand is not a long-term strategy.
Sidewalk safety, a tale of two cities
Cities have no such qualms about collecting roadway data. In one studyMy colleagues and I interviewed workers in 16 US cities about the data they track on their streets. One city told us they had “no data gaps and no need for anything else.” Most others would probably agree with that sentiment.
We then asked them the same question about the pavement data. The response tone shifted quickly. Audible frustration and initial disclaimers of “it’s complicated” were common. They told us that sidewalks were not prioritized like roads.
Why would they? Or better yet, why would they be?
One reason is road safety.
Hoboken, New Jersey, became America’s poster child For safe roads. Experts point to the success of interventions such as curb extensions, high-visibility crosswalks, protected bike lanes and citywide speed limit reductions.
But before that, at Hoboken A systematic effort to catalog its sidewalks and their condition. The city conducts an annual sidewalk inspection program in which trained volunteers record sidewalk walks and problems. Hoboken also developed a smartphone app to instantly digitize the inventory, including not only sidewalk defects, but also things like pedestrian lights and damaged pedestrian signals.
Hoboken is one of several cities that places the responsibility of fixing sidewalks on neighboring property owners. But you can probably get away with it when your nickname is “Mile Square City” and yours Average income is more than twice the national average.
But nine consecutive years without fatalities in road accidents? In a city of about 60,000 inhabitants and a The daytime population is over 90,000? Hoboken is definitely doing something right, and focusing on sidewalks first may be part of it.
Springfield, Ohio, is also there About 60,000 inhabitants. However, the city suffered more 50 road accidents For the past nine years. The list of contributing factors is long, but sidewalks are important.
In fact, in Springfield’s 2024 Community SurveyResidents cited sidewalks and road conditions as the city’s worst problems. More than 90% of residents say they are dissatisfied with them.
To its credit, Springfield is looking to fix its sidewalks. And to be fair, it’s a lot harder to do when your city spans 26 square miles (67 square kilometers) of land instead of one.
But only given to property owners 30 days to fix their own sidewalks? And if they don’t have the cost of repairs added to their property tax bill? There must be a better way. I’m guessing that 22 are street dwellers Received such notice recently will agree
I live in Denver. The sidewalk in front of my house had some bumps and dips that would force me to rent heavy equipment and go to work. But the city came out and replaced it. Without even asking me.
So if you want to learn from Denver, it’s possible to make sidewalks a public responsibility. It may even be popular. And if you want to take a lesson from Hoboken and make your city safer, start with the humble sidewalk. Find out where they are, and where they aren’t. Where they need to be repaired and where they need to be replaced.
In other words, sidewalks come first.
Read more about our story Colorado.
Wes MarshallProfessor and Chairman of Civil Engineering and Construction, University of Colorado Denver
Reprinted from this article the conversation Under Creative Commons license. read on Main article.
