You're probably familiar with the sight of a long, quiet residential street unadorned by sidewalks, pushing pedestrians, pets, and kids on bikes onto the street. Is there ever a good reason for such a typology?
Malcolm Kenton addresses a question posed by Greater Greater Washington reader Phil L.: "Do sidewalks measurably improve pedestrian safety even in low traffic density areas, like residential neighborhoods? What would be a compelling reason to have a residential street without a sidewalk?"
The questions comes as Washington D.C. and other cities are retrofitting some residential neighborhoods with sidewalks.
The post poses the question to a group of experts—contributors to Greater Greater Washington—for their opinion on the matter. The article provides a lot of good data, well-considered opinion, and historic background on why some residential neighborhoods lack sidewalks.
FULL STORY: Ask GGW: Is there any reason not to have a sidewalk?
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City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research