awful sidewalks

[DougHuntingdon]

h hrlec has a snowblower and still wants the "righteous" to come over and shovel?

classic case of what this whole thread is about

):

Doug

PS Great job, Danielle, on the photos. While this was a major storm, many sidewalks may go all winter without being shoveled. Now some will say small, poor mom and pop independent businesses can't afford to shovel. Well first of all I have gotten no private messages requesting help yet. Second of all, I see the founder of UDF is worth over $2 billion. Maybe he needs to spend some money on shoveling? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Lindner%2C_Jr.

[Phil Florian]

Charyn, I agree...it is too easy to paint everyone with a wide brush without knowing more. This was a wacked out snowfall and I didn't have any help so it took me the better part of three hours to clear everything. Granted, I did the sidewalk first (and path to our door). Maybe it was so the paramedics would have a clear path to my living room when I had a cardiac arrest! I was thinking of the kids, though, and it turns out the blocked sidewalks were most of the reason for the second snow day this week.

That said, if I HAD to get to work, then my focus would have been on the driveway. I was able to stay home with my out-of-school kid so there was no hurry but not everyone has that luxury. Also, there weren't any strapping young kids out to make a buck. I was surprised by this. We usually get a couple kids when there is about 2 inches on the ground and I can literally sweep my drive with a broom but when I REALLY would have been happy to shill out a bit of cash, no one was there. Ugh.

It was nice to see neighbors pitching in. There are two older couples across the street and at one point there were a half dozen neighbors in their drives shoveling. Was nice to see. On our street, thankfully, the sidewalks left unshoveled tended to be the exception, not the rule. But seriously, not everyone had the time, muscle or ability to do everything. I say we congratulate those that did a good job and not mutter over the few that didn't.

And I also agree that the less the city has to do with it the better. They have enough on their plate. So, anyone else see some young enterprising lads and lasses out to do some shoveling? Send them down Northland way next time!!

[J Hrlec]

h hrlec has a snowblower and still wants the "righteous" to come over and shovel?

classic case of what this whole thread is about

):

Doug

PS Great job, Danielle, on the photos. While this was a major storm, many sidewalks may go all winter without being shoveled. Now some will say small, poor mom and pop independent businesses can't afford to shovel. Well first of all I have gotten no private messages requesting help yet. Second of all, I see the founder of UDF is worth over $2 billion. Maybe he needs to spend some money on shoveling? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Lindner%2C_Jr.

/sigh - You must have misread my post and therefore made an incorrect comment. First a minor thing...it is J Hrlec , secondly I said I do not have a snowblower, and lastly I suggested that I would be glad to get help from those who seem to think unshoveled walks from such an extreme weather condition is un-acceptable so soon after the downfall.

On a brighter note, I was able to complete clearing the rest of my walk after work today... breath easier people, one less calamity avoided

I understand the essence of this thread as it progresses, I just felt it initially could have been stated better and many factors taken into consideration prior to making some general comments.

[Kenneth Warren]

Two kids came by my house yesterday and offered to shovel. I asked them how much. They said $5. It seemed a ludicrous amount given the snow. I said can you do the driveway? They said yes. I said I'll pay you $20 for the driveway. I had done the driveway and sidewalk the night before. But there was still plenty to do. After about ten minutes, I went outside to help. I noticed one kid did not even have gloves. I gave him a pair. After about twenty minutes of effort (this was their first job ever), the brother needed to go home for treatment of his asthma. Later the brother came back to report that they could not do any more and wanted to get paid. I paid them $10.

With the accumulation in this snowfall, I believe the job, even for a small spread on Belle is more than 10 - 11 year olds could reasonably handle. I felt the limits of the children, their capacity for this labor, and beheld more innocence than muscle in their entrepreneurial spirit.

That's the capture of my particular experience of the young labor pool in this instance.

Sure we can give the kids a shot, but practically speaking, I don't think they can handle all the work.

It's takes a village and couple of days.

Kenneth Warren

[Danielle Masters]

It's takes a village and couple of days.

I agree a couple of days is reasonable, but shouldn't then a little bit be done at a time. I can understand needing some time, but I saw many places where no attempt was made at all. I will give it a couple more days and see if these residents and businesses do anything. In the meantime be careful of children and adults in the street. BTW Ken the library sidewalks look wonderful.

[Kenneth Warren]

Thanks Danielle for noticing the library. There were drifts covering the Arthur Avenue door yesterday.

Gregory Christian leads my Maintenance Services team. The whole team lives in Lakewood, too, and realizes the library is an immense source of civic pride.

For many years now, Gregory Christian has successfully set the standard for sidewalks in our city at our libraries - both Main and Madison.

It's unsolicited feedback like yours that keeps the team inspired.

Thanks again.

Kenneth Warren

[David Anderson]

I was unable to do sidewalk in front of my rental on Franklin (off Riverside) Wednesday morning. I shoved the driveway and apron Tuesday evening then again Wednesday morning. Having also done my own driveway/apron twice, I was completely spent and needed some time to recover.

My third floor tenant told me that "the big guy from the corner house" came by with his snow blower and did my sidewalk and that of my neighbor's. Three plus feet high; four feet wide; 40 feet long. That's a lot of snow.

Thanks, Jim O.

[Shawn Juris]

ah the "walkability of Lakewood". at least we still have proximity to everything else.
Sounds like reason has won out on this thread. With an exception for the latest snowfall, I've found many sidewalks to be left uncleared. I don't presume that this property owners have professional landscapers or are lazy. There is no obligation to complete the chore and no penalty for not doing so. I've heard several times the explanation of negligence for attempting but improperly clearing snow. Once again our legal system and insurance industry has mucked up what should be common sense. So what's the attainable solution that we are happy with as the neighborhood? Laws, services paid for by taxes, how about notifying the owner (a little catholic guilt maybe?).
Well done for those that kept up in this last round of snow. Exceptional job for those that helped others. Just a few more days and we'll be back in the 40's and we can all talk about how our basements are flooding and how much damage was under all this heavy snow. Keep an eye on those roofs and gutters, that's a lot of weight to be shifting around up there.

[Grace O'Malley]

Kids were walking in the street on Franklin and Hilliard today.

Thats a real shame. I'm not asking for someone to make a 4 foot wide path, how about a path one snow shovel wide? Just enough to pass through.

Its Friday and its obvious that NO ATTEMPT has been made by some. I'm no spring chicken so I know its hard, but darn it, at least try.

[Shawn Juris]

I'm tremendously thankful on weeks like this that my upstairs neighbor jumps all over things like this. The guy's like a machine. Two things that I can always count on. When dinner is ready (whether it's me or my wife cooking) the smoke alarm will go off. And when there's more than one flake of snow, I hear the shovel hitting pavement.
If only there could be more long term renters like the couple that share my house, Lakewood would be that much more perfect.

[DougHuntingdon]

At 530pm, I took the RTA circulator the whole way down Madison and Detroit. On Sloane, to confirm another post in this thread, I counted at least 30 properties in a row with not one cubic inch of snow removed with a shovel or blower.

Graftech, as usual, was one of the worst offenders. They have a long stretch on Madison beginning at W117. I used to live in birdtown, so I know.

I saw cooks/kitchen crew with their aprons on cleaning the sidewalk around Players. The library looked great, as previously mentioned.

Unfortunately I do not have a digital video camera...would have been nice to upload

Doug

[Suzie Dean]

I will have to say that it was pretty sad to see people walking in the street this morning. I saw a mother and her first grade son walking in the street, just to get to school. I also saw several high school kids walking in the street on the way home.

Real safe if you ask me.

What I want to know is what is the excuse going to be when one of these kids gets hurt???

[Kenneth Warren]

I took a walk down Detroit Avenue this afternoon to Warren and Key Bank.

I was, quite frankly shocked, at the miserable sidewalk conditions around Marc's Plaza. Across the street, on east side of Warren the conditions were no better until Key Bank set a fine standard.

How will Main Street muscle Peter Rubin and Corel to get on the stick and hire a maintenance service to clear up the sidewalks? The returns on this property are sweet.

There is no excuse for such blatant disrespect.

Kenneth Warren

[Charyn Compeau]

While I stand behind the fact that there were some of us that needed more than one day to get everything in order (we were finally done Thursday), I will also agree with Susie (and anyone else) that at this point, it is inexcusable to have not at least cleared a narrow path for foot traffic.

I also think that is is reasonable to expect the city to start issuing citations over the weekend to homeowners/tenants that have left their snow untouched.

On another note - we didnt get ANY teens walking with shovels. I asked one the young ones why and they - "NO way!!! Thats wayyyy to much snow to shovel for ANY amount of money!"



Also, after driving some of my daughters friends home I have to say, the giant piles that were left by the plows on side streets where people did not heed the parking ban are just horrifying.

Take a drive north of Madison on Lincoln and you'll find cars parked next to giant snow embankments blocking almost half the street and preventing more that one car to travel through at a time.

There were several other streets just like that as well. So not only are the kids walking in the street - but they are walking in streets that have been reduced to half their orginal size in some places.

JMO
Charyn

Always,
Charyn

[Jim O'Bryan]

What about the empty storefronts?

Yesterday while meeting with a group of advertisers about our plans for summer, and their long term involvement. I was amazed that many stores as reported here have still not even carved the small pathway that Charyn suggested should always be done.

Where we were trying to walk was made worse by the plowing of the street, where the mountains, Charyn speaks of, were the entire walk area. You would have 6 store fronts down nicely, then have to crawl over a mound into Detroit Ave. to travel the next two storefronts.

Tony Beno and the street crews of the city did a pretty damn good job keeping streets clean, it does always get me upset. We shovel and blow something close to 200' of sidewalk, basically three lots. Then plows cover them up as the drive by again, and again, and again.

I am not speaking of driveway aprons, which when blocked by a snow plow is frustrating, and unavoidable, but the entire sidewalk.

While the snow was a pain, the plows can put almost as much back and more. But this is salt, ice, large clumps of ice and even asphalt which makes blowing and shoveling more dangerous.

Mr. Beno, would it be possible to keep plows at a speed slow enough that do not cover sidewalks?


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