Walking in Waterloo Region

[MidTowner]

As someone who walks _A LOT_ in the winter, about 99% of the time I go walking, I still encountered at least one sidewalk that was poorly cleared or entirely uncleared.

I'm a pretty able person, so I can deal, but, it's still an unacceptable situation.

The fact is, putting the onus on property owners simply doesn't work, complaints or not.  People just don't complain about it, except probably when their neighbour doesn't do it.  Frankly, I doubt there are many people in the city who do as I do and make a list of uncleared sidewalks everytime I walk somewhere.

This is incredibly frustrating.

My experience has been the same as yours: nearly every single time I walk any distance, there are at least a couple of frontages not cleared. It's very problematic since one improperly cleared stretch of sidewalk can be an impassable barrier trapping someone in his or her home, even if all other property owners are clearing their sidewalks properly.

The point I was making, though, is that it is not a case of staff taking more than a year to study the issue. They did take too long, but they have studied it, and come to a conclusion. That part of their conclusion is to continue to monitor is a positive thing.

I wonder if you're right about people complaining. I do complain, and last year saw more results of the reports I made. But, in previous years, it was almost entirely a waste of my time to call the municipality to complain.