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

[xjustquietx.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, this drives me up the wall every year. I noticed somebody wrote this doesn't bother them, and I understand that. There are certainly things that have gotten this community up in arms over that have not bothered me the slightest.

But for some people, not having a shoveled sidewalk to walk down is just plain unsafe and for everyone else a nuisance. I'd hate to think I'd have to get my grandmother a taxi all the way from the T stop just so she could visit me because she would surely fall and break something on the two block trip to my house.

It snowed about an inch on Sunday night, I am amazed that that was too much for some people to shovel.

But I do understand that it's most likely a deadbeat landlord's fault and not the renters'... which makes it so frustrating for me because I'd love to just prank the houses that don't bother shoveling. But if it's not the renters' faults they shouldn't have to suffer.

I really wish the city actually fined people a large amount of money, and fined them more than once a season.

[bobobb.livejournal.com]

It is the renters fault though, see above.