Winter Walking and Cycling

[dtkmelissa]

I'm really surprised about some of the environmental arguments in support of property owners clearing sidewalks. It seems to me that one benefit of having the city clear more/all of the sidewalks would be that staff could be trained on best practices regarding salt usage. Some property owners use minimal salt, others seem to rely on it as their main tactic for keeping the sidewalk clear. Consistent practices from city staff seems like one way to manage that concern.

Also, more importantly in my mind, if we are talking about the best environmental practices, it would be to create a walkable city where people do not need to have a car to move around. Clear sidewalks help support exactly that. I've been disappointed with the number of suggestions that rely on cars as the answer to unclear sidewalks. Most of the places I need to get to on any given day are less than 3 kms from my home - an easily walkable distance...in theory. Unclear sidewalks can make those walks tricky at best or treacherous at worst. 

Relying on bylaw enforcement seems like a poor way to build a great city. In fact, I would suggest that we only rely on enforcement techniques when a system is designed poorly. For example, if you create wide, clear roadways, you need police to enforce speed limits as everything about the design suggests cars should go fast there. It's the same for sidewalk clearing. If you have a poorly designed system (relying on the goodwill of every single property owner) you need to rely on bylaw enforcement to ensure people follow the rules. I would suggest that it's time to rely less on enforcement and more on creating a better system.