Winter Wanderer: Are Detroit Sidewalks Just for Show and Snow?

Detroit has sidewalks, but people rarely use them

In 2013, Detroit filed the largest municipal bankruptcy in US history. Leading up to that point, the city had suspended many non-essential services (and some essential ones). This included putting all sidewalk repairs on hiatus.

At the same time, Detroit experienced unprecedented foreclosure rates resulting in over 70,000 buildings being abandoned, 31,000 houses left empty, and 90,000 vacant lots.

While there has been a lot of compounding momentum over the past few years, and even a boom of new construction in certain areas, there are dozens of city blocks that are still completely empty

Showing downtown separated by freeways from the surrounding neighborhoods

Fields of green where schools used to stand

At least the City has started mowing the empty lots again

Enough of that

This is not another Detroit #ruinporn post. To be honest, we get too many of those and they tend to be unaware of the damage they cause. I just wanted to set the stage for people who are unfamiliar with my home.

Needless to say, there are A LOT of sidewalks that go completely unshoveled all winter long. We get a fair amount of snow here, so it is enough to make you opt for walking in the street. Between the snow in the winter and the overgrown weeds, broken concrete, and proximity to empty houses, many locals have developed habits of avoiding sidewalks altogether.

My family and I live in a corner house, which means we have more sidewalk than most. The strip on the side does not get a lot of foot traffic. And like I said, most people don't use the sidewalk here anyway.

Here is a rudimentary map of the area

The yellow circle is my house. Green is sidewalk that is regularly shoveled. Red is never or almost never shoveled. Blue is mine. I always shovel blue, but it is lower on my priority list than the rest. Almost nobody walks there, including the postman. So, the edges aren't cleaned up as nicely, the salt is thrown more sparsely, and if I'm rushing in the morning, it is sometimes left with a single messy line caused by an overflowing shovel plow.

It snowed two days ago. So I shoveled.
It snowed more yesterday, so I shoveled when I got home.

Making my way to blue, I saw something that made me pause

Footsteps

As if trapped in coldness, there they were. Someone had been here.
I understand that this is rather unremarkable under most circumstances. But it means something to me.

I have hope for my city and my neighborhood. And in fact, I have committed money towards that hope. Detroit has the highest city income tax in Michigan and most cities don't have any. Property taxes are also higher here than most.

There are a lot of crucial metrics that need to improve in Detroit before it can be considered healthy, and sidewalk usage itself is not one of those metrics. But it means something to me.

To me it shows a small sign of a neighborhood strengthening its sense of community. It shows a desire to return to normalcy where vehicle traffic is separated from those walking or pushing a stroller.
It mustn't stop there, though.
In fact, these footsteps themselves show the need for more. As the line of prints went down the way, towards a patch of red, they left the pedestrian route, and continued on in the road.

I would love to someday buy that empty lot behind my house and expand my backyard. But regardless, I plan to soon buy a snowblower and take on the task of clearing that snow along with my own. Maybe then the route will see more use. Of course, I may no longer see the evidence of such usage imprinted in snow.

Thanks for reading my morning musings.

Cheers,

Sam

Image Sources: Walking, Empty Blocks

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