KCRag Forum

Yesterday, I had to drive thru Johnson County (shudder) and I saw three separate pedestrians walking in the street on main thoroughfares.  Scary as hell.  It was on Johnson Drive and Metcalf.  The lanes for cars were already narrowed by the snow buildup on either side of the street, and there was barely room for the four lanes of cars, let alone dodging suddenly appearing, slipping and sliding humans.

The sidewalks were not just unshoveled, (are there walks along these streets?) but the plowing of streets had pushed peaking deposits onto the shoulder. 

When I loved in the suburbs as a kid, we always shoveled our driveway, walk, and sidewalk(when we had one). It wasn't a matter of need or debate. It was just done. It was as matter-of-fact as mowing the lawn.

I think most people just don't give a shit about doing it.  I will say though that people actually do walk on my front sidewalk. Mostly kids going from house-to-house.

i enjoy shoveling.  the past two snowstorms i have shoveled our walk, sidewalk, and driveway as well as the sidewalk in front of our neighbors' houses.  if you are reasonably able-bodied and do not shovel your sidewalk, you are an asshole.

Here is one reason people should shovel their sidewalks. Yesterday, while I was driving home, there was a guy in a motorized wheelchair riding down the street--several days after the big snow. It wasn't a sidestreet either, it was a main artery.

I can only imagine someone coming over a hill and braking suddenly when they see him, and hitting a patch of ice, and careening right into him.

chrizow wrote: i enjoy shoveling.  the past two snowstorms i have shoveled our walk, sidewalk, and driveway as well as the sidewalk in front of our neighbors' houses.  if you are reasonably able-bodied and do not shovel your sidewalk, you are an asshole.

I think it's fairly clear from this statement you belong in the Twin Cities.

chrizow wrote: i enjoy shoveling.  the past two snowstorms i have shoveled our walk, sidewalk, and driveway as well as the sidewalk in front of our neighbors' houses. 

I certainly saves a trip to the gym.  I wore a heart-rate monitor last year just to see how it compared.  Shoveling a 5-inch snowfall was roughly equivalent to an hour-long bootcamp workout.

Even snow-blowing gives you a bizarro isometric work out as you alternately push thru drifts and try not let the blower pull you off your feet.

Shoveling the snow is a civic responsibility like mowing your lawn and picking up trash that people toss on your property.  Doing these things make the city a better place to live.

So lucky to have Aaron Barnhart doing his community service on the front of the kcstar web site:

http://www.kansascity.com/2011/02/24/26 ... l-now.html

I still think the city should shovel people's sidewalks for them if they don't, and bill their property taxes.

Watch the people start shoveling then.

mlind wrote: Shoveling the snow is a civic responsibility like mowing your lawn and picking up trash that people toss on your property.  Doing these things make the city a better place to live.

Absolutely true.  It really annoys me that many of my neighbors don't pick up trash that gets thrown on their property.  I live near a McDonalds and my block seems to be where people who are walking finish eating and toss their trash.

mlind wrote: Absolutely true.  It really annoys me that many of my neighbors don't pick up trash that gets thrown on their property.  I live near a McDonalds and my block seems to be where people who are walking finish eating and toss their trash.

This is interesting. I don't necessarily live near a McDonalds. In fact, I don't even know where the nearest one is. But I've concluded that if you go there, probably though the drive-through, and then head my way, you will finish your meal at about the time you reach the area in front of my place, at which point you'll obviously toss what's left into the street. This seems to happen at least once a day. Always McDonalds.

I can relate.  Apparently it's important to finish your beer before you reach the intersection in my hood.

Subject: City will start enforcing sidewalk clearing ordinance on Monday

News from City Hall
City Communications Office
City of Kansas City, Mo.
www.kcmo.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 1, 2013

City will start enforcing sidewalk clearing ordinance on Monday

The City of Kansas City, Mo., will begin enforcing the provisions of the sidewalk clearing ordinance on the morning of Monday, March 4. The sidewalk clearing ordinance is in Sec. 64-246 of the City's Code of Ordinances.

Residents may make complaints regarding uncleared sidewalks to the 311 Call Center beginning Monday morning by calling 311 or 816-513-1313 or online at www.kcmo.org/311. These complaints will be handled by the Neighborhood Preservation Division of the City's Neighborhoods and Housing Services Department. Penalties for non-compliance will depend on the violation's severity. Most fines will likely range between $25-$100.

According to Sec. 64.246 of the Code of Ordinances, "it shall be the duty of all persons owning or occupying any real property, fronting upon any street, boulevard or highway, to remove from the sidewalks in front or alongside of such property all ice and snow within a reasonable time after cessation of a storm depositing such ice or snow. The provisions of chapter 62, article III, pertaining to littering, and penalties for violations thereof, shall be applicable to violations of this section."

To view the sidewalk clearing ordinance online, please visit http://library.municode.com/HTML/10156/ ... -246REICSN.

Thank you for posting this, Taxi.

I lived in an apartment off of Barry near I-29 for a year.

They made my record for poor sidewalk clearing

the path they made was half sidewalk and half grass, whoever did it didn't even bother to follow the curb line which lined up with the edge of the sidewalk perfectly
and the sidewalk part was covered with ice and zero ice melt. they never added any. they could have left the snow and done a better job.

so when I hit the sidewalk I slipped and ripped my pants.

I clear mine, and my immediate neighbors do a good job, but after that, forget it. You're better off walking in the street, which I have had to do numerous times. It's dangerous and I don't like it, but it beats trudging through piles of snow as tall as I am where people have cleared out their driveways at the expense of the sidewalk.

So, the city can fine me for not shoveling my sidewalk when they haven't plowed my street at all the last three years?

Sounds like it's complaint-driven. Do your neighbors like you?