Ann Arbor Sidewalks Cleared Quickly and Completely
The City County Observer has never had a story posted from an airport before so here goes a first. In my weekend in Ann Arbor I was able to walk on probably 10 miles of sidewalks that had been cleared of snow that fell last week by City of Ann Arbor employees according City of Ann Arbor policy. The picture sort of says it all from the window of a Starbucks.
I did speak to a few people about the cleanliness and the most telling comment came from a University of Michigan Astronomy professor who said;
“they (the city) don’t shovel every sidewalk in town, just the ones that they really care about in the downtown because they want it to be an attractive place for people to go for entertainment”.
I think that says it all. Will the City of Evansville ever get it? Ann Arbor’s downtown was full of businesses and even had two old theaters that were operating and showing foreign and film festival films for $6 per ticket. I can not say that I am surprised in the least.
Comparing Evansville snow removal to Ann Arbors, come on. Why don’t you compare us to Jacksonville Fl. What do you think Ann Arbors annual budget is for snow removal. For no more snow than we have, let them shovel it.
Well for one, I have never slipped and busted my rear on the ice in Jacksonville and I have multiple times in Evansville. The point is that there are many complaints from downtown Evansville workers and merchants that there is no snow removal. It impedes commerce to not do so and sends the message that no one including the City of Evansville gives a darn. Ann Arbor certainly has more snow than Evansville. Why did I compare Evansville to Ann Arbor? Because I was there. I could have been any city that does clear its sidewalks. I know that Louisville does and the snow is comparable. I do not know about Lexington.
For no more snow than Evansville has, why not shovel it an send a cheap message to the people who work downtown that the city does care.
Do you want the city to shovel snow for the people on Franklin St. How about on N. Main. .
In areas where the pedestrian traffic pays the rent on commercial space, I think the merchants association should hire contractors to clear the sidewalks. Of course that assumes there is a merchants association. And my emphasis is on “where pedestrian traffic pays the rent.”
In other areas, I think the property owner has to make his or her own determination whether civic pride and mutual benefit warrants getting up off dead arses and shoveling snow.
If those areas are to be considered to be “cared for” and “targeted” for retail growth then yes. If they are fully occupied and doing well the I concur with Soon2B that a merchant’s association would be the best solution? This is not about fairness or equality, it is really about decisions to spend massive sums of money on Arena, walkways, etc. and then scrimping on snow removal does not make any sense? If the city wants the downtown to come back to life it needs to do the maintenance until the downtown has enough life to do it out of profit motive, civic pride, or both.
I agree 100%. And I hope to hell they repair the walkway sidewalks (and other side street sidewalks downtown) BEFORE the Arena opens, because you sure can ruin a pair of good shoes fast on those busted up crap walks we got now.
How many union employees does it take to operate a snow shovel? The answer is at least seven.
You first need an operating engineer to dig a trench. Next comes the carpenter to build concrete forms. Then, a concrete finisher to pour a footer. Now comes the block layer to build a 6′ wall. Then a Teamster stops at the tool cage and waits for a laborer to load the shovel since he isn’t allowed to handle any tools. The Teamster then drives to the jobsite to deliver the shovel. A laborer removes the shovel from the truck and leans it against the newly built wall. He then leans against the wall, along with the shovel, waiting for the snow to melt or quitting time, whichever comes first. He feels the job just doesn’t pay enough for only one person to shovel snow so he spends the rest of the day on the phone with his business agent telling him he needs more help. All the while, the Teamster is sitting in the idling pickup to move the shovel from one jobsite to another, should that need arise.
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