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+--- Thread: Walking in Waterloo Region (/showthread.php?tid=189)
RE: Walking in Waterloo Region - panamaniac - 02-25-2015
Why is Vrbanovic assuming that city workers would be shovelling the sidewalks? Surely this sort of unpredictable, seasonal activity should be contracted out, if it's going to be done.
RE: Walking in Waterloo Region - mpd618 - 02-26-2015
(02-25-2015, 11:27 PM)panamaniac Wrote: Why is Vrbanovic assuming that city workers would be shovelling the sidewalks? Surely this sort of unpredictable, seasonal activity should be contracted out, if it's going to be done.
You could say the same thing for city clearing of roadways, and yet that's done directly by the city, as far as I know.
RE: Walking in Waterloo Region - panamaniac - 02-26-2015
(02-26-2015, 12:41 AM)mpd618 Wrote:(02-25-2015, 11:27 PM)panamaniac Wrote: Why is Vrbanovic assuming that city workers would be shovelling the sidewalks? Surely this sort of unpredictable, seasonal activity should be contracted out, if it's going to be done.
You could say the same thing for city clearing of roadways, and yet that's done directly by the city, as far as I know.
True, although the staff that clear the roads are gainfully employed in other municipal duties in the other seasons. I don't see how that would be a viable option for additional staff hired to plow sidewalks.
RE: Walking in Waterloo Region - ookpik - 02-26-2015
(02-26-2015, 09:52 AM)panamaniac Wrote: True, although the staff that clear the roads are gainfully employed in other municipal duties in the other seasons. I don't see how that would be a viable option for additional staff hired to plow sidewalks.ISTM we should look at how other cities staff sidewalk snow clearing and use their experience to decide how best to staff those jobs here.
RE: Walking in Waterloo Region - panamaniac - 02-26-2015
(02-26-2015, 10:19 AM)ookpik Wrote:(02-26-2015, 09:52 AM)panamaniac Wrote: True, although the staff that clear the roads are gainfully employed in other municipal duties in the other season. I don't see how that would be a viable option for additional staff hired to plow sidewalks.ISTM we should look at how other cities staff sidewalk snow clearing and use their experience to decide how best to staff those jobs here.
That's logical. It occurs to me that things were so much easier back in the day - there was always a ready supply of teenagers and pre-teenagers in the neighbourhood looking to make a couple extra bucks by shovelling your sidewalk. They'd even go door-to-door to ask if you'd like them to do the job. Simpler times....
RE: Walking in Waterloo Region - clasher - 02-26-2015
I still get people (mostly adults, actually) knocking on my door offering to shovel the walks and driveway for 40$ or something. I've never taken them up on the offer.
There are seasonal city workers that work in the summer (tending gardens, mowing grass, driving the leaf sucking trucks, etc.) some of them could become full-time or 3/4 employees. I really wonder how much there is to save by contracting it out, essentially a company would take some money for profit and pay the employees considerably less than city workers get paid, but the city already owns and maintains sidewalk plows and would presumably continue to run a maintenance department for vehicles.
RE: Walking in Waterloo Region - BuildingScout - 02-26-2015
(02-26-2015, 10:47 AM)panamaniac Wrote: That's logical. It occurs to me that things were so much easier back in the day - there was always a ready supply of teenagers and pre-teenagers in the neighbourhood looking to make a couple extra bucks by shovelling your sidewalk. They'd even go door-to-door to ask if you'd like them to do the job. Simpler times....
In my neighbourhood we've gone from having a long list of readily available baby sitters twenty-five years back to a couple of overwhelmed teenagers who do not need the money to begin with. A clear change in demographics there.
RE: Walking in Waterloo Region - ookpik - 02-26-2015
(02-26-2015, 11:42 AM)clasher Wrote: I still get people (mostly adults, actually) knocking on my door offering to shovel the walks and driveway for 40$ or something. I've never taken them up on the offer.So supposedly rational people would rather pay $40 a pop to have someone clear their sidewalks rather than pay $40 per year in taxes to have the city do it for them all winter. Go figure...
Quote:There are seasonal city workers that work in the summer (tending gardens, mowing grass, driving the leaf sucking trucks, etc.) some of them could become full-time or 3/4 employees. I really wonder how much there is to save by contracting it out, essentially a company would take some money for profit and pay the employees considerably less than city workers get paid, but the city already owns and maintains sidewalk plows and would presumably continue to run a maintenance department for vehicles.My recollection is that city of Toronto uses both parks maintenance staff as well as contractors to clear snow in winter. The contracts run from 01December to 31March. This sometimes causes problems when there's an early snowfall in November or late snowfall in April because the contracted staff and equipment aren't available.
RE: Walking in Waterloo Region - jamincan - 02-26-2015
I went running outside for the first time in awhile, and my god, the City of Waterloo does a terrible job of snow clearing. Conditions were good for the most part in front of people's houses, and businesses did a fantastic job, with the snow removed right to the concrete. Where the sidewalk was a municipal responsibility though, it was terrible. You could tell they hadn't cleared it since the last snowfall because their sections were very rough, presumably due to foot traffic packing down the most recent snow. The worst spot by far though was along Laurelwood east of Erbsville Road. For some reason there was a section they just hadn't bothered to clear at all, ever. It wasn't in front of any businesses or houses, so presumably it was a municipal responsibility, and they had certainly cleared the section further east, but along this stretch, there was just a narrow, single-file path packed down by pedestrians. Ridiculous.
RE: Walking in Waterloo Region - ookpik - 02-27-2015
(02-26-2015, 10:50 PM)jamincan Wrote: the City of Waterloo does a terrible job of snow clearing. Conditions were good for the most part in front of people's houses, and businesses did a fantastic jobIn my experience empty houses (for sale, snowbirds, etc.) are the worst offenders. The same with construction sites and empty lots. For some reason owners think they don't have to clear their sidewalks if they're not occupying the property they own. Also shared residences like n-plexes where the landlord leaves the job it to renters.
As for the City, they seem to get around to sidewalks only after they've cleared all the roads.
An anecdote: A few years ago the city of Waterloo sponsored a walkable cities seminar for the public at First United Church (at King and William.) It had snowed a few days before and the snow had turned into slush by the day of the seminar. Halloran appeared to give her usual platitudes about her personal commitment to making Waterloo a more walkable/cyclable city and a more accessible one for seniors. I got up and pointed out that in my walk to the seminar I'd noted only two stretches of sidewalk that hadn't been cleared, (1) a section in front of a city-owned parking lot and (2) the sidewalks around the church.
If you're going to talk the talk, be sure to clear the sidewalks before you attempt to walk the walk.
RE: Walking in Waterloo Region - Canard - 02-27-2015
(02-27-2015, 10:02 AM)ookpik Wrote: In my experience empty houses (for sale, snowbirds, etc.) are the worst offenders. The same with construction sites and empty lots. For some reason owners think they don't have to clear their sidewalks if they're not occupying the property they own.
Huh? If I go on vacation, I'm supposed to what... call friends to come clear my sidewalk, so you don't have to tread through a bit of snow?
That's ridiculous.
RE: Walking in Waterloo Region - clasher - 02-27-2015
Yeah, just like you have to get someone to mow your lawn once a month or whatever so it doesn't get long enough to have by-law called you.
RE: Walking in Waterloo Region - MidTowner - 02-27-2015
(02-27-2015, 12:37 PM)Canard Wrote: Huh? If I go on vacation, I'm supposed to what... call friends to come clear my sidewalk, so you don't have to tread through a bit of snow?
That's ridiculous.
Define "bit". What if we get a snowfall of six inches? Or a few of them? Still fine for him to tread through snow? Or for a disabled person to wade her scooter through it- or, better yet, maybe just stay home all winter because your sidewalk's not cleared.
RE: Walking in Waterloo Region - panamaniac - 02-27-2015
(02-27-2015, 12:37 PM)Canard Wrote:(02-27-2015, 10:02 AM)ookpik Wrote: In my experience empty houses (for sale, snowbirds, etc.) are the worst offenders. The same with construction sites and empty lots. For some reason owners think they don't have to clear their sidewalks if they're not occupying the property they own.
Huh? If I go on vacation, I'm supposed to what... call friends to come clear my sidewalk, so you don't have to tread through a bit of snow?
That's ridiculous.
Ridiculous? Are you being serious? It's not only not ridiculous, it's appropriate and necessary. You can't just leave your house unattended while you're away, whether it's winter or summer. To do so invites a very unpleasant conversation with your insurer, should anything happen while you're away.
RE: Walking in Waterloo Region - taylortbb - 02-27-2015
(02-27-2015, 12:37 PM)Canard Wrote:(02-27-2015, 10:02 AM)ookpik Wrote: In my experience empty houses (for sale, snowbirds, etc.) are the worst offenders. The same with construction sites and empty lots. For some reason owners think they don't have to clear their sidewalks if they're not occupying the property they own.
Huh? If I go on vacation, I'm supposed to what... call friends to come clear my sidewalk, so you don't have to tread through a bit of snow?
That's ridiculous.
Yes, that's exactly what's expected, and it's quite reasonable.
When someone in a wheelchair is trying to get to work and they encounter your property I'm sure they're going to think "Shoot, guess I'm not going to work today. Maybe next week when the homeowner is back from vacation". Same for a senior trying to collect their mail, or a parent with a stroller, or plenty of other people for whom it's not just "a bit of snow". Even for those of us that can climb over it it's likely to lead to thoughts of "I should have taken the car today", which is not what we want when we're trying to get people to be more active and to use transit.