For the first time in the 24 years* I’ve lived in my neighborhood, I was able to walk all the way around the block on shoveled sidewalks (excluding one small patch) tonight. I felt happy and encouraged while walking, and I wondered if, maybe, the snow shoveling ordinance is working. Are people more conscientious about keeping their sidewalks clear?
My cynical husband had a different take, saying it’s only because it was easy snow get rid of. It’s easy to spend a little time on a sunny Sunday morning shoveling light snow–and not too much of it–that fell during the night.
He’s probably right, but I’m still feeling optimistic that this behavior is indicative of people being more courteous and responsible.
How were others’ neighborhoods today?
*Qualifier: I probably haven’t walked around the block after a snowfall every year during the past 24, but I know I have for the last five or six years.
My neighborhood on Parkview and Norwood near Cabot School is clear as well, Gail. One benefit of the shoveling ordinance is that it doesn’t have to resonate with every resident; people respond to evident social norms just as strongly as they do laws. If only a couple more residents in each neighborhood shovel because of the ordinance, that may yet be enough to tip a cascade of shoveling, as neighbors look around each morning and feel implicit peer pressure.
My neighborhood (W.N./Aub) looks pretty good too, but I just got back from dropping my kid at North, and after driving the length of Otis St., I can say that this “social norm” has not reached many residences. Huge stretches unshoveled, plowed snow on corners.
Our neighborhood (Waban, east of Chestnut by Woodward) is a little mixed. I’d say about 50%. This is probably confounded by some of the sidewalks being on the City’s school sidewalk routes. I do wonder whether some homeowners see the city mini plows on some routes and infer they don’t have to get out there.
Mr. Auchincloss, at best you are correct in a rather limited sense. On my street, there are more than a few perpetual non-shovlers who have displayed this behavior for years. They seem rather immune to the norm induced by the majority of their neighbors.
Really though, who can blame them? Sidewalks are the property of the city and should be maintained in the same manner as our roads, parks, and other public resources.
The sidewalks on West Newton hill are hit and miss throughout the neighborhood. The effort looks no different as in prior years. It seems to me that conscientious homeowners consider clearing the snow from their sidewalks routine while others hope those who do will clear theirs too. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.
I agree that “neighbor” peer pressure isn’t much of a help.
As for the city roads, it was great to see the storm drains that are generally left covered with snow when the snow plow comes by are dug out this time.
Not too bad, but still several stretches here and there in the Parker-Dedham streets corridor where some people probably declined to shovel from the Saturday night storm knowing the snow will melt when temperatures hit the 40s on Tuesday-Wednesday. I am not complaining, having seen what happened to much of the East Coast this past weekend.
The City of Newton has not shoveled the sidewalk outside of the Municipal Cypress St. lot.
It amazes me that the City can’t clear it’s “own” sidewalks but will fine Citizens for not clearing.
My small street near Chalresbank was in good shape as usual- I have had very few complaints about snow removal in our neighborhood over the years, and sidewalks are generally clear enough for our street (admittedly, the sidewalk in front of our neighborhood playground is never cleared, but it is situated in such a way that I don’ know that that bothers anybody).
The glaring exception was that one person (a visitor?) parked a jeep in front of my house, leaving it overnight, impeding the snow plowing, so there was a nice mess outside my stoop when she left. That said,it was not difficult to clean up with this particular storm.
A nitpick- I saw that the ticket (she did get ticketed!) for impeding snow removal is $20- less than the $25 fine for violating the winter parking ban (of which I have said in these spaces before I am not a fan outside of snow emergencies, to put it mildly). I don’t consider $20 to be much of a deterrent. $50+ or threat of towing would be much more effective.
The fine for parking overnight during a snowstorm is less than the fine for parking overnight on a dry night? That makes absolutely no sense. Is it possible that car owners are actually issued a fine for each violation? That would be more logical.
In my neighborhood, for the first time in at least a decade, the sidewalk plow has salted and cleared snow the entire length of the street and corners and (most) curb cuts are clear. It looks like we have new equipment on our route, which may explain the difference. Resident compliance continues to be good.
My nitpick: on the street, the plow driver felt like going the wrong way after I cleared the driveway, for no particular reason. Not cool.
I walked around West Newton and Auburndale today. The area around Burr was pretty good but several of the curb cuts on Webster Street were inaccessible due to the snow being plowed on them. Overall, though, I think the residential sidewalks were significantly improved since previous years. Although, we haven’t had much snow and what snow we’ve had was powdery and easy to clean so I’m curious to see how it would be later this winter.
Nonantum has been sloppy.