Sidewalks are the topic of a couple of recent newspaper articles, one in the Washington Post ("Activists Pave Way for Foot Traffic", December 14, 2002) and another in The New York Times ("Whose Sidewalk Is It, Anyway", January 5, 2003). The first article describes the challenges faced in getting sidewalks installed in a suburb of Washington, DC. The New York Times article focuses on obstacles cluttering sidewalks, and mentions the San Francisco ban on the Segway (the motorized scooter), as well as last year's legal decision that requires Sacramento to remove obstacles like utility poles and bus benches from its 2,200 miles of sidewalks.

While there is acknowledgment that pedestrian activity seems to be on the decline in the United States, sidewalks are still seen as needed and wanted. The articles remind the reader that getting sidewalks installed in a community can be a slow process, and possibly opposed by neighbors. Readers are also reminded that sidewalks can become so strewn with obstacles such as utility poles and trash receptacles that walking is arduous and unpleasant.

Unfortunately neither article identifies pedestrian advocacy groups that can help citizens take their cases to city hall, nor were useful documents such as pedestrian guidelines or pedestrian master plans mentioned. Nevertheless, any discussion of sidewalks is probably useful, if for no other reason than to remind people that walking is a transportation option.

For those with a technical interest in sidewalks, you might want to look at SANDAG's model pedestrian guidelines, released in June 2002. It can be downloaded from: http://www.sandag.org/uploads/publicationid/publicationid_713_1271.pdf