02-13-2022, 02:34 PM
(02-13-2022, 02:11 PM)Bob_McBob Wrote: A relative of mine lives in a corner house in Cambridge. The sidewalk that runs up the side of their property includes both the community mailbox and bus stop for the area. Their realtor heavily implied the city would be responsible for clearing it because of these features when they were buying the house, despite me showing them the Cambridge sidewalk snow removal map that said otherwise.
Earlier in the winter they made a reasonable effort to clear the sidewalk, but at some point they apparently just stopped doing it. They have a new baby and they're really busy all the time, which might be a reasonable excuse, except the fact remains a very heavily used section of sidewalk is now going uncleared. The windrow has built up, there's only a very narrow path down the middle of the sidewalk from people walking on it, and even the mailbox and bus station pads they're not responsible for have a lot of snow built up. I'm not about to tattle on my relative, but I'm amazed they haven't been reported and fined yet. It just struck me as a perfect example of how utterly ineffective the current enforcement system is when hundreds of people are being affected on a daily basis and not a single one of them reports it.
If they lack the time, they can hire someone to clear their sidewalk, presumably they are finding the time to clear their driveway to get their car out.
Almost nobody will report this...our current enforcement system is predicated on the assumption that people will ignore blocked sidewalks, and not complain too much.
But councils won't say this aloud, they need to maintain the lie that the system exists to clear sidewalks.
Like, this sounds like I should be wearing a tinfoil hat, but this is the reality as far as I can see it.
It is one of the major factors which has led us (and our incomes) to leave town.