Mary Newsom got me thinking about sidewalks. There is not just the upfront construction cost vs. development benefit, there are ongoing costs to having a sidewalk in front of your home that are real, if not major.

Costs like the steaming pile of dog poo your lazy and rude neighbors allow to be deposited in your yard as they walk down the sidewalk. Happened twice to me just this summer. I was not a happy man. Then there is the twice as much edging you must do with a sidewalk if you aspire to that neat look that you probably aspire to or you wouldn’t have a yard. Plus, do not forget your obligation to remove snow and ice from the sidewalk in the event of foul weather. Not much of an issue in warm Charlotte, true.

Then there is just the noise and intrusion of foot-traffic. Does not bother me, but everyone probably remembers a cranky neighbor from your youth who would complain. So while, yes, I prefer to live in a neighborhood with sidewalks, I see some downsides. And let’s not forget that many areas of Charlotte without sidewalks today were built as semi-rural, well-and-septic neighborhoods and have been paying full city taxes for years — decades even — and somehow never received sidewalks.

Bonus Observation: A looming problem: The lack of pedestrian crossings over or under 485. NC DOT is not prepared to deal with this very real need.