Salt will not damage your concrete or blacktop driveway. I used it for years. Knew the dude that drove the snow plow and he would give me many five gallon buckets of the road salt.
Only real problem is it will do the job on your grass and yard plants if the run off can perk into those areas.
Plain good olde sand works best if you have sensitive areas. After winter is over just sweep it up around the edges treated and sift / screen it for use on another year. Does not hurt any planted areas. You will tend to track it into the house / car but again no biggy. Vacuums up pretty easy.
Cheap too. If storing outside, spread it out in the sun beforehand to get it totally dry so it will not freeze in a big lump. Keep some in the car trunk in a bag for when you get stuck.
Lots of road salt on your city sidewalk also has another good feature. It perks down in the cracks and weeds will not grow in the summer. Salt and old transmission fluid is a real killer.