661 NE Greenwood

While walking the dog tonight, we were heading down Greenwood. It isn't a nice road, but it goes where we need it to, so sometimes, we walk along it. For months (maybe even a year or more), the sidewalk in front of 661 NE Greenwood has had some serious problems.

For a while, this section of sidewalk had cracked across and heaved upward, almost like techtonic plates forming a mountain range. More recently, the sidewalk has settled, but it has left the concrete as a jumbled mess at 661 NE Greenwood.

However, in the past week or two, I have noticed some activity in this area. Someone, maybe the building owner or tennant, has been trying to clean up the landscape and make some improvements. However, as you can see in the photos, they have done nothing about the sidewalk. This seems crazy. Why would you put lipstick on a pig? If you have a broken sidewalk (that is your responsibility) in front of your building or business, wouldn't you spend your money on repairing this, instead of putting up a little fence and a picnic table?

I'm planning to send a letter to the owners of this building to help them become aware of this problem.

Trying to improve our city...

I went running tonight. Sometimes when I run, think about things. Often I end up thinking about the degraded sidewalks I am running on. Then I get thinking about the other people who I see on the sidewalks. It seems there are two types of people who you see travelling on the sidewalks: recreational users, and those who use sidewalks out of necessity. This second group is very diverse, but they all have the same reason to be on the sidewalk: They have someplace to go.

So, while I am frustrated by crumbling, cracked and broken sidewalks, I always wonder how it must make these necessity users feel. I am out there because I want to be. But they are on the sidewalks because they need to be. They have places to go, buses to catch, groceries to get, kids to take to school, etc. Circumstances in their lives have prevented them from travelling by other means, so they are walking. Maybe their car needs repairs. Maybe they don't have a car. Some of them have physical handicaps which prevent them from driving, and make walking on good sidewalks a challenge. For these people, problems in the sidewalks are a real annoyance, and sometimes a safety concern.

So tonight, I got thinking that maybe this problem needs a little more publicity. Maybe by creating a greater awareness, those responsible for sidewalks would repair and maintain them a little better. I guess maybe we'll see...