Please Deice Your Sidewalk

[derekp.livejournal.com]

We're a few days removed from the first winter storm of the year, and yet many stretches of sidewalk in and around Davis Square are still covered in ice. Simpson Ave seems particularly bad as you get towards the Broadway end of the street and Cutter was no Picnic last night either. I can only imagine the folks who live there are renters, as I would think owner residents would not want to risk the liability. One trip to Home Depot or Tags and a few seconds tossing a small amount of rock salt on the ground will fix this. Please everyone do their part to keep the sidewalks in our neighborhood safe all winter.

Is there recourse for pedestrians in Somerville when folks do not clear the sidewalk or does it simply become a legal issue if/when someone slips and falls? I'd like to see the city stepping up to clear bad areas, perhaps citing landlords and residents who repeatedly fail to keep the sidewalk safe.

Comments

[grapefruiteater.livejournal.com]

Our landlord hires someone to shovel and put down salt, and they do an excellent job, so it's not out of the question for other landlords to make similar arrangements. I've also called 311 to complain about icy and snowy sidewalks (one house on our block consistently does not shovel). If nothing else, you get the satisfaction of complaining.

I wish the city would just take care of the sidewalks like so many other municipalities outside New England do. New York and Montreal, for example, shovel or snow-blow the sidewalks. Putting the responsibility on residents is a recipe for trouble, especially in a city with so many students and other high-turnover renters.

[xuth.livejournal.com]

Rather than complain, I used to take the opposite tack and just shoveled a path through the snow for my entire block. I never did a great job of it* but at least people could walk on the sidewalk. I've seen similar efforts of people clearing the walk around powderhouse park when the city fails to clear it.

* I make an exception for the people that are genuinely unable to clear the snow and tried to do a decent job for them too.

[grapefruiteater.livejournal.com]

Hah, I guess you're a nicer person than I am! I live on a major street and don't feel I should have to take responsibility for such a large section of sidewalk. It's really just one house that consistently doesn't shovel at all, but in an area with heavy foot traffic, that can get dangerous quickly.