Inman Park sidewalks (Atlanta: living, dangerous, safe)

[ATLTJL]

I agree, this is ludicrous. So does this mean that if someone trips in front of your house, they can sue YOU? Insane! Individual homeowners also have a much more difficult time taking advantage of econonomies of scale. If a city contracts someone to pave 5 miles of sidewalks, the charge per foot has to be a fraction of what it would cost some guy who just needs 60 feet paved.

Why doesn't the city start shifting the burden of repair on the streets to each homeowner? Maybe the portion of the city sewage that is in front of your house should be your responsbility as well. Think of how much Atlanta could have saved if it made homeowners pay for fixing the sewage pipes!
Technically, it did with the water rates, but you know what I mean.

And you know what the punchline is? When the city made this shift, I'm positive it didn't issue refunds or lower the tax burden on the citizens. Where did the money not needed anymore for sidewalks go? Probably to MARTA officials to go get oral sex through glory holes at Hartsfield.

If I lived in Inman Park, I'd be really concerned. Surely these sidewalks are lawsuits waiting to happen, but I wouldn't even know who to call to come out and fix a sidewalk. And I"m sure it's ludicrously expensive. If you have to maintain the sidewalk, doesn't that make it your property? Why not just put up yellow tape blocking it off? Or at least post a sign stating "Use sidewalk at your own risk!"

I'll say what I always say when people say other cities are doing the same thing.....what's wrong with holding ourselves to a higher standard? We can do better! If I were a city resident, I'd probabaly be writing a letter to my city representative about this and organizing the community on it.

[JPD]

Originally Posted by noah

I don't think this is unique to Atlanta.

LA to shift sidewalk burden | CalWatchDog

Real Estate | Sidewalks? They're your problem | Seattle Times Newspaper

An increasing number of cities are shifting sidewalk responsibility to homeowners, according to Phil Andreen, a national sidewalk expert and former assistant city attorney for Pasadena, Calif., who defended the city against sidewalk claims for more than 20 years.

Andreen said homeowners usually make repairs more quickly than the city can and the owner is more aware of the immediate condition of the sidewalk. Last year, the city of Seattle received 85 claims from people who have tripped and fallen, including statements from three in the last several months who say they received concussions after falling on buckled Seattle sidewalks.In 60 percent of the cases Andreen handled, trees contributed to problems with the sidewalk, including two wrongful-death lawsuits as a result of falls.

So I was right. Shocker.

[cqholt]

And you know what the punchline is? When the city made this shift, I'm positive it didn't issue refunds or lower the tax burden on the citizens. Where did the money not needed anymore for sidewalks go? Probably to MARTA officials to go get oral sex through glory holes at Hartsfield.

Whoa, pump the brakes. What does oral sex at Hartsfield-Jackson have to do with sidewalks?

[researchnerd]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

That makes zero sense. So if you decide as a homeowner that you are going to fix your sidewalk, you can have it all ripped up and new sidewalk put down....and the new stuff begins and ends at your property line? That's idiotic. What if you want poured concrete, but your neighbor gets hex, and another neighbor wants cobblestone? Then the sidewalk is just a patchwork of crap.

Welcome to my neighborhood.

[arjay57]

I wonder the rule about sidewalk maintenance is in other cities and counties around the metro area? If it's only the city of Atlanta sticking it to its residents, that would be even more reason to demand a change in policy.

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by arjay57

I wonder the rule about sidewalk maintenance is in other cities and counties around the metro area? If it's only the city of Atlanta sticking it to its residents, that would be even more reason to demand a change in policy.

I'm in my late 50s and I first heard of homeowner responsibility for sidewalks when I was in high school. This is nothing new, I'm afraid. That ROW area between you and the street has been a thorn in the side of homeowners for decades.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by 10scoachrick

I'm in my late 50s and I first heard of homeowner responsibility for sidewalks when I was in high school. This is nothing new, I'm afraid. That ROW area between you and the street has been a thorn in the side of homeowners for decades.

Wow! So is it the rule in other cities and counties around metro Atlanta that the homeowner is responsible for repairing sidewalks?

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Wow! So is it the rule in other cities and counties around metro Atlanta that the homeowner is responsible for repairing sidewalks?

Not in Smyrna. Can't speak for the rest of Cobb County, tho.

[ATL Urbanist]

Late to the party, but I have to jump on the bandwagon about those awful hex pavers. I know it sounds petty, but the sidewalks in Virginia Highland were one of the reasons my family moved out of that neighborhood (to be fair, living close to the 'party' at the Dark Horse Tavern was a bigger reason).

Our son was born when we were in that neighborhood and it didn't take too many trips in a stroller before I got fed up with the uneven, uprooted pavers. Very dangerous. Living a car-light life, we do a lot of daily walking and it just got to be too annoying to trip over those things every day, especially with a baby in tow.

I'd love to see a project to re-pave the sidewalks in neighborhoods like ViHi and Inman Park with smooth new surfaces. But looking at the comments here about the tricky issue of owner responsibility, it looks like there are some big hurdles for that kind of project. It's a shame because safe walkability should be a selling point for the intown hoods, but a lot of streets have those uneven pavers and they're really not safe. Even the pavers that are still somewhat level are rough on stroller wheels.

[cqholt]

I'd love to see a project to re-pave the sidewalks

Mayor Reed announced sidewalk repairs in the new operating budget since the reserves are built up and the pension reform saved the city millions. Maybe those pesky individual hex pavers will be replaced with a single pour sidewalk with hex-like outlines.