Planner Pick

Mark Newman, City of Sultan Community Development Director:

I came into this book from a local government background and perspective - wanting to examine the public health role that sidewalks play in collective American life and in my own health. The author impressed me by hitting on all of the basic tenets of administrative urban planning that can come to mind and that one would learn in school: Jane Jacobs' sidewalk ballet, Eric Garner's death, the Nollan and Dolan nexus and rough proportionality, the layered and devolved management and myriad of permits and funding involved in determining who is responsible for what. He captured the zany thinking of government - replacing a patch of broken sidewalk may seem like a no-brainer, but often it is not a simple fix. Each improvement must be weighed against new laws and priorities that must kill two birds with one stone. A sidewalk project involves many stakeholders when it comes to long-term capital improvements, utilities running underneath it, drainage, ADA compliance, active transportation, and funding. All of those battles collide and what looks like a simple fix becomes years of planning and mustering resources to get the product right in the end for all users, even if it means years of delay to the detriment of current users. Too often, sidewalks are simply the edges of a bigger street improvement project and a necessary evil to score funding in a grant application. His solution of the Department of Sidewalks is not something I would have initially considered, but it makes sense that something as unique a right-of-way should not be shoehorned in with transportation when sidewalks overlap and touch on every aspect of American life: freedom of speech, assembly, outdoor dining, homelessness, and more.

As someone who spends a great deal of time as a pedestrian, I can personally advocate for more sidewalks as the solution to traffic gridlock, climate change, loneliness, and boredom. If this isn't where the sidewalk ends, then I would love to see a sequel companion full of the people the author interviewed, as well as vignettes from sidewalk peddlers, buskers, those living on sidewalks, and anyone and everyone - from schoolchildren to letter carriers. That is what makes the sidewalk ballet so special. Even sidewalks that seem to go nowhere other than ring around a suburban cul-de-sac serve a purpose and can one day be connected into the greater system. As the author pointed out, it is not a partisan issue. I even recall Secretary Burgum mentioning (in my own words) the need for Americans to stop succumbing to being victims of sprawl. I fully support the idea of Adopt-a-Sidewalk programs and improvement districts. I think we should all be tasked with relying on the sidewalks for a day - either as someone who is carless and needs to get to work or as someone with mobility issues to see just how much of a role this critical infrastructure is.