You have a duty, as a citizen of Milwaukee, to provide people with safe paths. Sidewalks covered in inches of icy snow ARE NOT safe paths, especially for the elderly or disabled.

Look out your window. If you can’t see your sidewalk, I’m talking to you. If you can, well then I’m thanking you.

It snows in Wisconsin. This is a well-established fact. When you live here, you should expect to have to shovel your sidewalk.

This expectation, however, does not seem to hold for some campus area residences. It is appalling how dangerous campus area sidewalks are.

According to the city, you are responsible for shoveling the sidewalk in front of your house, but it is not your sidewalk. Sidewalks are public spaces; people use them to get from place to place. Thus you have a duty, as a citizen of Milwaukee, to provide people with safe paths.

Sidewalks covered in inches of icy snow ARE NOT safe paths, especially for the elderly or disabled. There have been many times, walking south down Oakland Avenue toward campus, that I was afraid I’d fall and break an ankle. I have almost sprained one a few times. I can’t imagine someone less able trying to manage.

The city is partly to blame for this as well. All residents and commercial property owners and occupiers have 24 hours to clear sidewalks.

According to the Milwaukee Department of Public Works, “Violators of this ordinance who are reported to Sanitation districts are issued a notice to clear the walk. If the sidewalks still are not clear within another 24 hours, a Sanitation crew will clear a path on the walk, and the charge will appear on the property tax bill.”

This policy seems silly, so silly. Violators who are reported? I didn’t know that when I moved to Milwaukee I was supposed to be responsible for the conditions of sidewalks.

In my naiveté I always assumed that the city could notice when sidewalks disappear in mounds of snow. After all, I don’t have to report cars parked in expired meters. The city does a bang-up job of finding those. Plus, the former seems more important to public safety.

Also, what kind of punishment is a fine to the property bill? Since the majority of students rent, they never see, let alone pay, a property bill.

While landlords might take these out of their safety deposit, the threat of a property bill increase doesn’t act as a big incentive to shovel for a student. I think a ticket would be a better motivator.

The Neighborhood Housing Office just sent out an e-mail reminding people about winter regulations regarding parking, shoveling etc. Whether or not this is in response to the dangerous conditions of our sidewalks, I’m not sure. But it was a good move nonetheless.

I’m not sure what the solution to this problem would be. Until the city decides to address this, I guess if I want a safer walk to school I’ll have to rat out my Oakland neighbors.

To all of you I singled out in the beginning of this article, I say this: Get off your asses, put down your beer cans and pick up your snow shovels.

If you want to report icy conditions or unshoveled sidewalks on your street, visit www.mpw.net and click on “Snow and Ice Control.”

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