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Ok, so I'm gonna pen a thread about sidewalk shoveling because I've been thinking about this a long time. Like ever since 1991, when I agreed to a $5 a month reduction in rent for shoveling around our NE Mpls duplex apartment. It was a bad year to make that contract.
Since then, I've been shoveling the sidewalks in front of our home and business ever single snowstorm. So listen to my TED talk, ye whippersnappers. These things I know to be true:
1. Every sidewalk absolutely must be shoveled within 24 hours of a storm. Failure to do so makes the city unnavigable for people with disabilities, with strollers, with carts, etc, and makes everyone else walk in the street with cars. There is no excuse for not shoveling.
2. If a sidewalk isn't cleared immediately, it'll quickly become packed into ice & remain hazardous all winter. Sidewalks that didn't get shoveled after the 12/23 storm for example likely won't be passable until March even if someone tries to clean it up.
3. And yet, some homeowners & businesses just don't bother to shovel. In every neighborhood. On Summit, on Grand, on University, on effing Highland Parkway. Most fail year after year. I have pictures.
4. Complaining to the city begins a process that takes days to resolve and may or may not result in city crews showing up to clean the sidewalk. Of course, by then its too late to clear it properly. A fine of about $300 will be issued to the property owner.
5. Of course, guess where fines are most often assessed? In StP's poorest neighborhoods. https://www.mprnews.org/story/2014/12/01/st-paul-snow-shoveling-fines-and-assessments
Why? Because A: Every map is the same map and B: Vast swaths of StP's wealthiest neighborhoods (ie Highland) don't even have sidewalks. https://streets.mn/2020/06/25/every-map-is-the-same-map/
6. In any case, paying a very occasional $300 fine is a lot cheaper than paying for a proper plowing service. Bad actor businesses figured that trick out a long time ago, I promise.
7. So, we can fine ppl & businesses all we want but that won't clear the sidewalks and it won't improve the lives of people who depend on sidewalks.
8. So is answer is municipal plowing? I agree it would be better than out current system. However, there are some major hurdles.
One is how much it would cost to get it done. There's a huge fixed cost of equipment & labor and a huge variable cost based on snowfall. As it is, the city already does fiscal gymnastics whenever we get a heavy snow year. https://www.startribune.com/removing-inch-of-snow-in-mpls-costs-202k-in-st-paul-it-s-137k/289649571/
But there's also cultural & political issues. Those richies in Highland w/o sidewalks won't want to pay for it. The guy with the $1K snowblower who loves to clear all his neighbor's sidewalks won't go for it. Folks on fixed income won't go for it, etc.
But there's also the legitimate feeling of togetherness & community building achieved by shared suffering. Getting out of the house, digging out your neighbor's car, building snowforts, etc. It's kinda a big Minnesotan thing we have that other people don't have.
9. So, my suggestion would be to only have the city plow properties that demonstrate their inability or unwillingness to clear their sidewalks themselves. For example, after 3 failures to shovel, add a permanent assessment to the property to cover the actual cost of muni clearing
9a. The assessment would remain in place until ownership of the property changes. The city would clear those sidewalks at the same time as the streets and they wouldn't get packed & icy.
10. Of course, some people are too old or may be physically incapable of clearing their own sidewalks. Let's help those people out and offer them free muni clearing! And lets give free shovels to anyone who needs one.
11. This system would place the cost of muni sidewalk plowing only on those bad actors who are have been making our streets unsafe & unpassable for pedestrians for years and years. And, it might be enough of a penalty to set some folks straight.
12. But more than any of this, we need the @cityofsaintpaul to Take Sidewalks Seriously. We need to install them everywhere they're missing, keep them repaired, and treat them like the critical infrastructure they are.
13. And not just sidewalks, but curb cuts, median crossings, bus stops, bike trails, bike lanes, etc. It's time to quit being terrible at these things.
That is all. Thanks.
That is all. Thanks.
