[LCN Newscast] Share Your Sidewalk this Weekend

[newscast@lists.lakeclaire.org]

Can your neighbors use your sidewalk?

This holiday weekend is a great opportunity for you to make life
a little better for many of your neighbors.  Take a few minutes
to ensure that a couple with a stroller can comfortably walk past
your home.


How often do you walk the entire length of your own sidewalk?
Probably not very often.  We often drive from our homes, or
typically only walk in one direction, or maybe we just cross the
street to visit a neighbor.  You can view sidewalk upkeep as a
homeowner's burden.  Or you can choose to look at it the other
way:  Use of sidewalks is everyone's civic right.  This is
particularly true for our neighbors with special needs, or for
whom walking in the street can be more dangerous:

- Children and senior citizens,
- Those with mobility issues,
- Those with visual impairments or deafness, and
- Those who rely on MARTA rather than cars.

How can you help?  While some sidewalks may be in bad shape
structurally, many more a just plain blocked.  Without us meaning
to, our sidewalks can carelessly become car-parks, trash piles,
gardens, and forests.  New spring growth may now obstruct a
sidewalk that was free this past winter.  You just need a minute
to take a good look at the state of your sidewalk.

Here are some tips:

- Trim tree branches that are lower than about 6'-8"
      (door height) from the ground,
- Prune hedges that encroach on the pedestrian's path,
- Park so that your car does not project out of your
      driveway into the sidewalk,
- Keep the pedestrian right-of-way free of trash cans
      and yard waste, and
- Remove plants growing in pavement cracks.

- Avoid planting large tree species in the planting strip,
- If you plant a hedge, set the plants back a couple feet
    from the sidewalk edge.

- If you live next to a vacant lot, consider "adopting"
      that sidewalk,
- If you need help, ask a neighbor (or offer to help
      if vice versa),
- If you are doing a home renovation, repair major
      sidewalk problems at that time, or
- If someone is requesting a variance, consider if
      sidewalk repair is a topical issue.

Whether you espouse "compassionate conservatism" or you "think
globally and act locally," the edge of your own front yard is a
great place to make our neighborhood even more neighborly.


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