There was little chance Shakita Kpetay could’ve seen the slippery object that caused her fall.
Two layers of snow completely covered the sidewalk in her neighborhood in North Minneapolis. The bottom layer was a packed-down marble of snow and ice. The top layer was a fresh coating of powder. In between the two was an apartment management sign, bent over and hidden in the wintry mixture.
While walking her dog in December 2021, Kpetay slipped on the sign under the snow. A neighbor found Kpetay on the ground, in pain, struggling to hold the pit bull’s leash; he phoned 911. Two more neighbors prayed over Kpetay as she waited for the ambulance.
Her ankle and leg were broken. She was on crutches for weeks, and in physical therapy for six months.
In Minneapolis, city ordinance requires property owners to clear sidewalks on their property within 24 hours of a snowfall, and city data show the vast majority do. But Kpetay — who’s the sister of city council member Robin Wonsley — argued her fall points to a need for city officials to take a more active role.
“We cannot just depend on individuals, good neighbors or kind neighbors to be the ones who are responsible for making sure that the city streets are cleared,” Kpetay said. “The city has to take some accountability for that.”
Why the city council might revisit sidewalk plowing this winter
The city of Minneapolis has 1,900 miles of sidewalks, and the question of whether city officials should assume responsibility for clearing them isn’t new. Accessibility advocates, including Our Streets Minneapolis, and city leaders have weighed creating a municipal sidewalk-plowing program for years.
So far, a hefty price tag and concerns about logistics have been deal-breakers. An April 2018 study found a program to clear all of the city’s sidewalks after each half-inch of snowfall would cost $20 million. With present-day property values, city budget officials estimated that generating that much revenue would require hiking property taxes by 4.5% — an increase of roughly $129 per year for the median Minneapolis homeowner.
“Even if you can pay for it,” Mayor Jacob Frey said in an interview this week, “can you get the personnel, the number of employees, to be able to step up and do it well? I’m not going to be someone who’s going to over-promise and then under-deliver.”
But next week, some city council members will try to refresh the debate. City council members Wonsley and Aisha Chughtai have called for a new feasibility study for a city-run sidewalk-clearing program that Minneapolis could roll out in stages over three years. They’ve said legislation ordering this updated study is scheduled to appear before a council committee next week, on Feb. 16.
An abnormally-snowy start to winter in the Twin Cities might draw more interest to their idea.
Already this winter, Minneapolis residents have called the city’s 311 hotline with more than 7,800 complaints about snow and ice on sidewalks, according to a MinnPost analysis of city data through Feb. 4.
At this pace, Minneapolis could easily set a new record for the number of 311 complaints about winter street and sidewalk conditions.
There may be a silver lining to this year-over-year rise in complaints: Council member Andrew Johnson theorizes residents are more likely to call 311 now because they’re more likely to believe calling the hotline will lead to a city response.
But broadly, the early-season surge in 311 calls reflects what has been the fifth-snowiest start to winter on record in the Twin Cities, with more than 55 inches of snow already. Not since the winter of 2010-11 has so much snow fallen in the metro, so early in the winter. (An average winter sees about 46 inches of snowfall.)
On Dec. 6, before much of that snow fell, Wonsley — who represents Ward 2, which includes the U of M campus — proposed tacking her sidewalk-clearing study onto the city’s annual budget. Her proposal failed, with opponents citing procedural concerns with a last-minute amendment.
Weeks later, “we had this abnormal snowstorm,” said Wonsley, “that has just created lots of issues across the city, especially when it comes to our sidewalks becoming impassable — especially if you’re a senior, if you're disabled, or even just a regular person … [or] if you rely on transit.”
And what if this year’s “abnormal” winter becomes more typical? Climate change studies have shown Minnesota could see fewer days of snow cover in coming decades — but also could see more winter precipitation.
“We’re seeing freezing rain that we didn’t used to; have freeze-thaw cycles we didn’t used to have,” said Isla Tanaka, a winter planner for the Canadian city of Edmonton, during a December webinar.
Because of climate change, “it’s only going to get more complicated,” said Austin Holik, a member of the Minneapolis’ Pedestrian Advisory Committee, which is also pushing for a refreshed sidewalk-clearing study. “My hope is that because it’s only going to get more complicated that we can find a way to work together and make it better.”
What would a city-run sidewalk plowing program look like in Minneapolis?
In Minneapolis, city staff both proactively monitor sidewalks and react to 311 complaints about un-plowed paths. Most complaints prompt the property owner to clear their sidewalk, but about one out of every five complaints results in a contractor clearing the path at the property owner’s expense. The city also has a program to clear snow from street corners.
But Wonsley and Chughtai envision a greatly-expanded role for the city.
Their legislation would order Minneapolis officials to draw up cost estimates for a sidewalk-clearing program that would begin in 2024 with the 596 miles of sidewalks along the Pedestrian Priority Network — which includes downtown and major thoroughfares such as Lowry, University, Hennepin and Lyndale avenues.
The council members call for a “phased-in” approach that, by 2027, would make the city responsible for clearing every sidewalk in Minneapolis.
“Whatever financial cost would be well worth the benefit if residents don’t have to injure themselves if they’re trying to go to their grocery store across the street, or break their leg while walking their dogs,” argued Wonsley — who, in December 2021, had to leave work to retrieve Kpetay’s dog so her sister could board an ambulance to the hospital.
“Residents will appreciate that trade-off,” she added, “if we’re delivering a quality public service.”
How do other cities handle snow on sidewalks?
Comprehensive data on how many North American cities take on snow-clearing responsibilities is hard to find. However, Edmonton planner Tanaka said many urban centers on the northern prairie are like Minneapolis (and St. Paul, for that matter): Homeowners are responsible for clearing public walkways adjacent to their properties.
There are prominent exceptions: Montreal; Winnipeg; Burlington, Vt.; and Rochester, N.Y., all take on at least some responsibility for clearing pedestrian paths in winter.
But each of these cities’ programs raise questions that would affect how a Minneapolis-run sidewalk plowing program would work.
For example, when does the city call out the sidewalk plows? Rochester, N.Y., only calls out plows after more than four inches of snow falls. Below that threshold, property owners are on their own, leading to occasional confusion about who’s responsible, leading some residents to simply wait for the city to clear their walks after the next big storm.
As Minneapolis’ 2018 study also notes, sometimes it’s not precipitation, but a thaw, that can obstruct a path: When snow melts, pools on a sidewalk and then freezes, it’s a property owner’s responsibility to clear that, too.
How thoroughly would city snowplows remove snow and ice from a path? In Winnipeg, municipal sidewalk and bike path plows only clear down to the layer of compacted snow on the bottom — not to pavement. Tanaka said this has been a source of frustration to some pedestrians and cyclists.
After one recent storm, some pedestrians and cyclists took snow clearing into their own hands, drawing a threat from city officials to fine anyone clearing city sidewalks or bike paths on their own.
Dear City of Winnipeg. I have cleared the public sidewalk in front of my house. I might add some (pet friendly!) salt later to ensure kids don't slip. Please, please don't fine me. @akohan pic.twitter.com/0vi0icT1e2
— Zach Fleisher (@Zach_Fleisher) November 30, 2022
And who would actually plow the streets? In 2018, officials estimated that Minneapolis would need to either hire or contract with operators for 120 plows for a citywide program.
[cms_ad:x104]
Could Minneapolis pull off a program of its own?
Council member Johnson has been down this road before.
Johnson campaigned on making pedestrian paths more walkable in the winter, pushed for the 2018 sidewalk-clearing study and supports the new push to refresh that study.
However, Johnson now believes a citywide program would cost far more than $20 million, as the city estimated in 2018. Johnson said the city ought to explore other steps first: more outreach to property owners, beefing-up programs to help those who are unable to clear their own walks, stepping up enforcement against repeat violators and exploring a limited program to clear the Pedestrian Priority Network.
A citywide program “could be worth it if we could show that we’ve exhausted other reasonable steps to achieve the same outcomes, and we haven’t done that yet,” Johnson said.
If the concern is improving Minneapolis’ climate resiliency, Frey said the city has more pressing concerns, like replacing century-old stormwater pipes that are more prone to backing up and flooding — a task that is likely to cost “hundreds of millions” in the coming years.
“Is [snow-clearing] something, conceptually, that I’m for? Yes,” Frey said. “But I’m the mayor, the buck stops with me, and I have to take in the full set of facts when making this decision.”
Minneapolis’ 2018 study does contemplate a less-expensive, but less-comprehensive option: Instead of plowing after every snowfall, Minneapolis officials could only send out sidewalk crews whenever the city declares a snow emergency. The cost of clearing all sidewalks citywide under this scenario could be closer to $6 million annually — roughly $28 per year for the median homeowner.
Johnson dismisses this option, saying the juice wouldn’t be worth the squeeze: “You still have these massive logistical, operational challenges — but for what? To spare folks from shoveling once a season?” (And homeowners wouldn’t be completely spared from shoveling because they’d still be responsible for paths on their property and around garbage bins.)
Wonsley said an updated study might offer new answers.
She said the city may be able to lean on existing services to help defray some of the cost — and perhaps make a citywide program more cost-effective and achievable. Certain neighborhood associations already help with sidewalk clearing; Wonsley said schools or community groups may be able to get involved, as well.
“We fully believe a municipal or citywide program is absolutely doable,” she said, “and we can do it through a mixed-delivery model.”
Like Johnson, Wonsley, too, wouldn’t be content with shoveling only high-traffic paths.
“We can do this over a period of time; no one is saying we have to roll this out overnight,” the council member said. “But the goal at the end of the day for us is citywide.”
“We’ve tried the model of individual responsibility,” Wonsley added. “We know there are some areas across the city where there is that really good samaritan neighbor who wakes up at 5 in the morning and shovels everyone’s sidewalk.
“But we also know for a lot of residents across the city, that is not their reality.”
The city council’s Public Works & Infrastructure Committee is scheduled to take up her proposal on Feb. 16.
Editor's note: An earlier version of this story misnamed the Minneapolis Pedestrian Advisory Committee and misspelled the second reference of Chughtai and cited the incorrect percentage of property tax hike necessary to pay for a new $20 million program. The story has been updated.
When Big Brother Government does everything for you, why shovel? I thought you were fined for not shoveling your walkway? I assume most will just ignore the fines and make the City come after them. When you let criminals off for carjacking it gets hard to demand 47 bucks for negligence on your sidewalk. More taxes, more taxes more taxes!! When does it end?
So shoveling sidewalks is “Big Brother,” but armed agents enforcing rules isn’t. Thanks for showcasing how entirely warped the conservative perspective is in such a concise way.
No Dan Big Brother is you paying for a transit system that is broken, it is you paying for a failing public school system, it is COViD mandates, it is allowing criminals to go free, it is the need to micro manage your life because you are not capable of making your own decisions. It appears you like Big Brother, thankfully most do not.
That is quite the contortion you attempted. You have somehow defined “Big Brother” as everything except the government agency that can literally break into your house and shoot you with little chance of consequence. The right for cops to kill a black person is even more important to conservatives than the 2nd amendment. That is not surprising since that was the primary driver of the amendment in the first place. Meanwhile, things like education and taxes for roads are a fundamental threat to personal liberty and rights—specifically, the right to remain ignorant and a desire to not pay for the things they use. Thanks for showcasing so clearly the bizarro world bubble conservatives have constructed for themselves as a safe space.
Meanwhile, conservative places like Florida ban accurate history teaching if it hurts the feelings of fascists, while in Missouri, they want to pay teachers extra to teach their white supremacist version of “patriotism.” As is typical, the things conservatives complain about most are simply acts of projection.
Dan, not sure where you are getting your facts but before any law officer can enter your house they need a search warrant. You also need to look up the definition of Big Brother.
Joe, a cop only needs probable case or suspicion to enter your house, they don’t need a warrant. Once again, you support unlimited police powers and force while trying to pretend that shoveling snow is an assault on our freedoms. Whatever.
We agree Joe, our ultra left city council would rather tax the responsible folks than hold the irresponsible folks responsible! Got a department of Regulatory services, put them to work, don’t shovel , no problem $100 fine and the city comes and shovels it for $250-300, add it to the tax bill. We now turn a $20M tax bill into a $10M income stream!
That is a great idea and much more manageable. The city will not be able to find the number of employees needed to clear every sidewalk at the random times the snow falls. Also, people will get confused about when they are supposed to clear the snow themselves (under 1/2″ snowfall, under 1″, under 2″-who decides?) and when the city would be responsible. The idea of the city manages this has a likely outcome of making the snow and ice situation worse.
You should go to the city council meeting and propose this idea. Lots of us have no problem shoveling the snow in front of our houses. Anyone remember a few years ago when our city council president, Lisa Bender and her husband were repeatedly cited for not clearing the sidewalk in front of their house? I think it was over a dozen times. Outrageous!
I guess some people would rather our sidewalks be safe for everyone instead of whining about taxes and rolling out the tired “personal responsibility” platitude.
I’m not a fan of less personal responsibility and more taxes. I also don’t believe that government will clear the sidewalks any better than they clear the streets. There’s plenty of whining from people who should know that living in Minnesota with type of weather we’ve had this year will create difficult conditions for driving or walking.
It ends when the last person out, shuts off the lights and closes the door.
Joe, wait till you hear about what’s going on in Florida. There is no Bigger Brother than DeSanctimonious.
Frank, are you talking about O state tax, no COViD vaccine mandates, folks flooding from blue states to Florida, DeSantis? If he is Big Brother then what is Minnesota’s Governor? You need to look up Big Brother, brother.
Sure, Joe. Nothing says freedom like threatening teachers with felony convictions for letting kids read the “wrong” books, ginned up charges of voter fraud designed to intimidate black voters, or punishing private business for their political activity.
Well no, those of us who actually read Orwell, instead of using it as a catch phrase, recognize that it refers to the idea of policing thought. You know like pulling books from libraries that might make kids see gay folks as humans instead of vermin, teaching kids to understand that white people are not superior to brown, or hearing the life experiences of real live human beings that might make kids question why the world they see with their eyes and the people that populate it doesn’t correspond to the fake religious texts their brainwashed parents force them to believe. Of course, you already know all this, but as the thought policing is in line with what you’d prefer, won’t have anything to say on the matter.
Florida is great, if you happen to be a white christian longing for the Republic of Gilead.
Yes, Florida is the freedom state (as I sit here observing an hour South of Tallahassee). Unless you are black, gay, young, left leaning or a Disney employee. If any of these things you have a big target on your back in order to make the other folks really feel free. Fortunately, sticking your finger in the eye of everyone to the left of Mitt Romney only works in the reddest of red states and will fail miserably in a national election like in 2000, 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020…
DeSantis has ZERO chance nationally as even the local Tallahassee types acknowledge him as an unlikable, anti-social jerk…
This is one of those naive ideas that resurface regularly. The fact is that living in this climate in winter is inconvenient. Our recent weather cycle has exacerbated that reality. Our streets are a mess, the sidewalks the city should maintain, now, are a mess, as are many homeowner or Buisness sidewalks.
Nobody considers the issues of us bus riders. I live in Minnetonka. A big chunk of ice is still in front of my condominium building where I have to walk in the morning to get a bus. It’s as if the snow plows deliberately pushed some snow and ice right where the bus stop sign is. Our condo managers also do nothing to clear up the ice on the driveway or the parking lot either. People assume everyone drives. Also, at many bus stops you are just left off right on the road because of the huge snowbanks.
Far too many seniors that already struggle with shoveling their drive, let alone the sidewalks, some feel were inflicted on them. Wouldn’t those having to do community service be a possible choice for this onerous chore? Scouts, Boy and Girl, maybe guests of the gray bar hotel?
I don’t support paying taxes for clearing snow from sidewalks. I expect that the number of calls you mention in the article is part of an organized effort by a small minority of people to push for what they want — not a barometer about what people in the city want. Here’s the thing — If there is a tax imposed by the City Council, I believe a resident must be allowed to opt to shovel their sidewalk and not pay the tax. Paying for an unwanted service that I am taking care of already is not democracy. Furthermore, the act of shoveling is a form of mutual aid and community-building. That is what should be encouraged, not a government program in this case.
Well that mutual aid and community building all sounds great – if you live in a neighborhood full of houses.
There’s a reason why the sidewalks are worse in the poorer neighborhoods. It’s the same reason the poorer neighborhoods are the poorer neighborhoods.
NO NO NO! 1/2 inch of snow equals $20M per snow fall? NO NO NO! This Minneapolis resident happily plows mine and the front walks of my neighbors. The city has it’s hands full with the roads. Don’t add sidewalks to their list of things to do. Why does the SW Light rail project pop in mind when I think about this proposal? $$$$
So they would shovel 1 or 2 days after the snow? After its been walked on and trampled down? Will they shovel the path to your car? The big lump after the snow plow comes by? How about when the city plows come by and throws snow on the already plowed sidewalk? Will the use motorized units? EV or gas? Just think of the EV failures in winter? When it starts melting a refreezes, do they come back and do the ice?
So glad I don’t live in one of the two big cities.
If there were 7,800 complaints, how many tickets got issued? My guess zero!
Sounds like the proposal won’t solve the problem.
This year, the big issue wasn’t so much the big storm as the subsequent, smaller storm that included freezing rain. Equipment doesn’t remove packed ice – take a look at the streets for evidence. In fact, snowblowers do a worse job than shovels. Blowers don’t go all the way to pavement, leaving a layer that quickly gets packed into ice with a little foot traffic. Soak that with a little rain followed by a deep freeze & you have a permanent layer of ice until the spring thaw.
I took a bad fall the other day. My feet went out from under me on invisible ice — on sidewalk that was perfectly shoveled, right down to the pavement. Fortunately, no concussion, although I developed a good-sized egg on my head, and two days later my back is in pain and I feel like a truck ran over me.
So shoveling isn’t the whole answer. It can help, but no amount of shoveling will make our sidewalks safe 100 percent of the time.
Maybe instead of $20 million to shovel sidewalks (when it’s mostly being done already), the city should subsidize cleats for everyone.
From what I see, the biggest problem spots tend to be rental housing and commercial or industrial buildings—that is, buildings whose owners are not on site. I’d argue that the city could do more to “encourage” such building owners to actually take care of their property. City ordinances on clearing sidewalks should be enforced, and possibly with increasing fines for repeat offenders and/or people who own multiple problem properties.
Agreed, make this a “fine” city!
Maybe fines for failure to shovel should increase, with establishment of a program to help senior or disabled property owners who cannot afford to pay for shoveling.
Who is responsible for maintaining the bicycle/walking path along the Mississippi River? On Wednesday I went out for a run at 4:00 PM to enjoy some warmth and sun and there were a lot of icy spots that required me to slow down. The adjacent River Road was in really good shape which really bothers me because cars are always given priority over pedestrians. I personally would favor higher taxes and more attention paid to the sidewalks and trails but since the Cities are not able to handle their current responsibilities, I am not confident that they could handle additional obligations.
Sounds like a real first world problem…. having to slow down for an icy spot.
I was in support of this until I heard that the city would not get the sidewalk clear down to the cement, leaving additional work for the homeowner anyway. This has been a really difficult winter. In the past, the wet snow would not come until the spring, and people just put up with the bad sidewalks for a short time as the sun was high and warm temps were a couple days away. We always had minus 20 for at least 2 weeks in winter. This winter was hardly any dry snowfalls and people compressed the high moisture content snow into hard pack before it was shoveled. The city will not be able to get to all the sidewalks before they are compressed into hardpack. Homeowners will have to fight the hardpack anyway by the mandate. Usually my southern exposure helped me in clearing the sidewalk. But this year there is so much snow on the blvd that it shadows the sidewalk because of the low angle sun! Yet, warm temperature days still melt snow from above the sidewalk filling it with water. Rain didn’t help this winter, either. I have never used salt but I am starting to think that is the only way to comply with the city mandate of clearing the sidewalk down to the cement. We really need some type of benign salt like product to keep the sidewalks clear.
I’m sure it’s do-able, and I’m sure it would be expensive. I’m equally sure the result would not come close to justifying the cost and aggravation. The sidewalk on my side of my block in far northwest Minneapolis is clear and dry, cleared by this 78-year-old man and his neighbors. It’s right next to a street that’s a disaster, that must be traveled at less than 5 mph to avoid damage to one’s vehicle. If city street-plowing is the measure we’re going to use, having the city plow my sidewalk gets a hard NO from me. The sidewalks would be as treacherous to walk on as they would be if nothing was done by anyone, including property owners. That’s pretty much what my street looks like – as if nothing has been done.
And as we crawl toward spring, the freeze-thaw cycle is, in my experience, far more dangerous to pedestrians than snow. Ice is a lot more difficult to navigate safely on foot, and often virtually impossible for ordinary humans to remove. Heavy application of salt or other chemicals mostly just kills the plants next to the sidewalk and damages the concrete, unless the temperature is in a narrow “sweet spot.” And watershed commissions all over the state, including the metro area, are searching for ways to get people to use LESS salt, not more. It’s an interesting contradiction. When it’s really cold, chemicals don’t work as well – or don’t work at all – and they often poison the soil, not to mention more or less permanent poisoning of the runoff that goes, eventually, into the Mississippi once genuine melting arrives. Coarse sand works for traction, but you won’t like what it does to your hardwood floors, or the grime it leaves in your carpet.
Also, since I also know I’m not the only one on my block who has made a similar investment, does the city intend to buy my 2-stage snowblower, and similar machines operated by my neighbors, purchased after that winter of 2010-2011? It’s far too big to get into my home office to use as an expensive and very heavy paperweight.
Meanwhile, the city’s snow ordinance is, at least in residential areas I’ve seen, nearly worthless. It takes about 2 weeks for anything to happen. While that might be OK in January, if we’re in mid-February or later, we could easily be in a different season, with the sidewalk snow virtually gone, by the time the bureaucratic wheels have turned far enough to provide some degree of action when a residents won’t (or can’t) fulfill their obligation to their neighbors by clearing their sidewalk.
I am opposed. The streets are nearly impassible, they can’t even plow roads to the surface – we haven’t seen a plow since single side parking was instituted this year. At least some sidewalks are cleared properly and in a timely way under the current system, I’m extremely skeptical either would happen with regularity under a city run program, except maybe in Kenwood. Issue citations, maybe add a community service element for serial scofflaws.
Well, I’m not saying what MPLS should do one way or the other, but I have a couple observations that might be of interest.
Here in my suburban paradise of St. Louis Park, the city does clear many of the sidewalks on main streets and parkways. Sometimes those are actually clear before the streets get plowed, they’ve got these fancy snow blower machines they drive down the sidewalks. Here’s the thing… while this IS nice, it doesn’t eliminate the problem of dangerous, icy, and slippery sidewalks. For a variety of reasons the sidewalks the city clears end up being just as dangerous as the ones in side streets that homeowners are supposed to clear. I slipped and fell on one a couple weeks ago in fact.
Likewise, the bike trails like North Cedar Lake are plowed and cleared, often before the streets in MPLS get cleared… again, anyone who walks or rides on these trails will tell you they can be just a treacherous as anything that hasn’t been cleared.
Basically, the problem in the real world is that it’s not just a matter of clearing of the snow, you have to treat the ice with sand or salt, that’s how they get the trails around the lakes so clear, it’s not just matter of clearing the snow, they put sand down.
My thought on this is maybe the city should crank up enforcement and then try to target problem spots via their 311 program? Maybe targeting fewer problem spots might be more manageable than clearing ALL the sidewalks?
Regarding enforcement of sidewalk ordinance in MPLS… I’d just like to point out the fact that I walk my dog around Lake of the Isles one to three times a week; we walk on the residential side because my two year old Australian cattle dog can’t handle all the bikes, and joggers and other dogs on the lakeside. Point being… several of the millionaire homeowners around the lake fail to get their sidewalks shoveled and cleared. As long as you have so many police patrolling this area anyways (the pay for extra patrols) make sure you enforce the ordinances over there as well eh? Don’t just ding the everyone else.
I love you MinnPost but I think you wrote the wrong story. Take a look at that bar chart again. To my mind the real story is the massive increase in complaints about *streets* — already exceeding last year’s total complaints by 300+%. If complaints about sidewalks were up by a similar percent, those numbers would exceed 22,000 (vs. 7833 actual). If we’re not happy with the City’s efforts at street clearing, what makes anyone think that would solve the sidewalk problem? Let’s use some common sense.
If the city would simply enforce the current ordinance and maybe raise the consequences it would earn income to reduce taxes vs yet again raise taxes. City can hardly plow streets and Alleys and we now want them in charge of sidewalks too? just an excuse to raise taxes even more pricing out long time residents from their homes.
Considering the City will let several neighborhood streets go without being plowed, why would residents trust they would come through and do the sidewalks? Snow emergencies need to be consistent, non-emergency routes need to be plowed consistently after all the snow-emergency routes are done, and the City needs to ticket and tow every single offender who does not move their cars.
I live in a neighborhood of apartment buildings, and it can sometimes take a few days for building maintenance to come and plow the sidewalks, so I do agree the concept would be ideal. We still haven’t seen a plow on my street since the new parking restrictions were implemented.
The freeze/thaw cycles of our Minnesota winters pose big barriers to walkers, young and old. As a 71-yr-old Senior, I have to admit that I’m physically unable to break up and remove ice from my driveway run-off. I’ve been on a list for snow and ice removal for about 3 years and there just aren’t enough people available to do the work. I look forward to the City providing the service at an affordable cost.
The lack of snow removal (even after the announcement of a Snow Emergency) is appalling. Side streets go unplowed weeks after the major storms move on. Snow plowing and disposal must be part of the contractor’s scope of work.
I hate be the cranky old man in the room but… this is Minnesota… we have winter in Minnesota… this is what winter looks like… it snows.
Snow and ice are inescapable features of winter in MN, some winters are snowier and icier than others. Complaining about it won’t change that. I hate to say it but Joe Smith is actually kind of correct, government can’t solve EVERY problem.
I actually think a conversation we need to start having is about the whole idea of grievance/complaint driven policy and governance. Are we as a society and a democracy actually OBLIGATED to address EVERY issue that reaches a certain threshold of grievance or complaint? Is grievance and complaint the most rational or efficient means of establishing priorities?
Getting back to the snow and ice, I would also observe that in some ways what we’re seeing here is the fruition of Republican/Libertarian values in practice. For all of their whining about the Democrats and liberals who control MPLS the people of MPLS are acting like Republicans and Libertarians, not “socialists” or “Liberals”, rather they’re embracing selfishness and disregard for their community and neighbors. Liberals don’t ignore their civil and community responsibilities, they don’t want to see people slip and fall on the sidewalk in front of their house. Libertarians don’t believe in civil responsibility, as long as they can get to their car in the garage their work is done, everyone else is on their own. So when we a city pleading in vain for homeowners to shovel their sidewalks big government and socialism aren’t the problem, selfishness and disregard for others and the community is the problem… thank you Ayn Rand, Donald Trump, and Santos.
“To me, this problem seems exacerbated from the type of weather we’ve had this year. ” Absolutely. But I’ve seen winters like before, and we’ll see them again. I grew up during a mini-ice age in the late 60s and 70s, these are the winters of my childhood for the most part… my wife say: “You’re childhood sucked”… and so it goes.
Back in the 80’s the City of Minneapolis was really good at plowing the street and the people living on the streets were good at cleaning the sidewalks. What has changed?
The conservative culture of “government is the problem”and “selfishness is virtue” has had three more decades to take hold?
Since Minneapolis is overrun with Democrats how did the Republicans impact anything?
The “conservative revolution” has been ingrained in the fabric of society since the timeframe you cite. Hard to convince the neighbors to pitch in for the common cause when “Greed is Good!” after all. Conservatism has poisoned the well of civil society, now we reap the rewards.
“Back in the 80’s…” Well, yeah… I answered that question… the rise and embrace of “conservative”/Libertarian “values” is what changed. But really, aside from that… having lived through the 80’s I have to say it wasn’t really better, that’s nostalgia pretending to be history. The streets and sidewalks in MPLS during the 80’s were just as much a mess during a winter like this as they are now. What’s REALLY different is people actually didn’t complain like they do now… probably because there weren’t so many venues and avenues of complaint.
Well in the neighborhood I was familiar with was clean in 2 days after a heavy snow, alley’s and sidewalks included. Now it never gets done. Something has changed.
The weather has changed – it is warmer so we have more melting and icing in the winter. Recently the weather service stated that we have four times as many ice events now than we had back in the eighties. As one who walks much and who used to run outdoors in the winter, i believe that “four times” observation is about right.