4 ms·

This is a HUGE problem here in the south. I moved from Arizona to Georgia in 2012 and the two things I noticed immediately are: There are hardly any sidewalks

This is a HUGE problem here in the south. I moved from Arizona to Georgia in 2012 and the two things I noticed immediately are: There are hardly any sidewalks outside of the city (and people routinely are forced to walk on the side of the road), there are almost NO lit highways. Even major interstate highways that go through the heart of Atlanta aren't lit! Both of these strike me as enormous lawsuits waiting to happen.

Shivetya 9y ago
Not sure which county you are in, but here in Georgia in the metro area where I live side walks are mandatory in new subdivisions and they all are accessible from street level and if not there then from each driveway they pass through. we also get sidewalks in with a certain range of all schools and that is done if the road is repaved or changed. there are still a lot of opportunities for more but even the silver comet trail is mostly accessible from where I have used it (that is a very long and convoluted trail system built upon old rail lines). the state even has a great guidebook for pedestrian planning, see http://www.dot.ga.gov/DriveSmart/Travel/Documents/ga_ped_guide.pdf http://www.dot.ga.gov/DriveSmart/Travel/Documents/ga_ped_gui...
- rconti 9y ago
  Man I've been to Atlanta, and the western suburbs, and it's nothing but dark roads with people forced to walk in the ditch.
lovehashbrowns 9y ago
I'm in Austin and there's a weird thing with sidewalks here. They're pretty common, but occasionally you'll run into a situation where one side of the street has sidewalks, and the other side doesn't. Then they'll frequently alternate. So if you needed to use the sidewalk and didn't want to walk on the street, you'll have to cross the street multiple times. It doesn't make any sense at all.
baursak 9y ago
Not only that, Atlanta is notorious for half-assed sidewalks that just suddenly end and then re-emerge a mile down the road.
- rconti 9y ago
  I hate this so much. Bike lanes that re-appear on the 'wrong' side of a traffic lane, magically, on the other side of an intersection. Sidewalks that end for no reason and begin in others. It's this terrible patchwork where nobody's responsible for anything to actually HAPPEN and we just hope and occasionally enforce the regulations on NEW construction. So someone builds a new apartment complex and BAM, they're forced to pay for a sidewalk, which I'd be fine with, except there are no sidewalks anywhere else, so it's just a waste for everyone.
cheshire137 9y ago
It's a big problem in Nashville, too. Many parts have no sidewalks at all.
volkl48 9y ago
Lighting up large sections of highway causes massive light pollution (which not only is ugly, but is detrimental to nature) along with high energy consumption and maintenance costs for not all that much in safety benefit. I'm generally skeptical of the value of doing so for a long highway rather than just at interchanges/the like. Belgium is one of the brightest spots on the planet because of their overuse of it (and that's an improvement from how bad it used to be): http://thismustbebelgium.com/belgium-spotted-space/ http://thismustbebelgium.com/belgium-spotted-space/

Shivetya 9y ago

Not sure which county you are in, but here in Georgia in the metro area where I live side walks are mandatory in new subdivisions and they all are accessible from street level and if not there then from each driveway they pass through. we also get sidewalks in with a certain range of all schools and that is done if the road is repaved or changed. there are still a lot of opportunities for more but even the silver comet trail is mostly accessible from where I have used it (that is a very long and convoluted trail system built upon old rail lines). the state even has a great guidebook for pedestrian planning, see http://www.dot.ga.gov/DriveSmart/Travel/Documents/ga_ped_guide.pdf http://www.dot.ga.gov/DriveSmart/Travel/Documents/ga_ped_gui...

rconti 9y ago
Man I've been to Atlanta, and the western suburbs, and it's nothing but dark roads with people forced to walk in the ditch.

lovehashbrowns 9y ago

I'm in Austin and there's a weird thing with sidewalks here. They're pretty common, but occasionally you'll run into a situation where one side of the street has sidewalks, and the other side doesn't. Then they'll frequently alternate. So if you needed to use the sidewalk and didn't want to walk on the street, you'll have to cross the street multiple times. It doesn't make any sense at all.

baursak 9y ago

Not only that, Atlanta is notorious for half-assed sidewalks that just suddenly end and then re-emerge a mile down the road.

rconti 9y ago
I hate this so much. Bike lanes that re-appear on the 'wrong' side of a traffic lane, magically, on the other side of an intersection. Sidewalks that end for no reason and begin in others. It's this terrible patchwork where nobody's responsible for anything to actually HAPPEN and we just hope and occasionally enforce the regulations on NEW construction. So someone builds a new apartment complex and BAM, they're forced to pay for a sidewalk, which I'd be fine with, except there are no sidewalks anywhere else, so it's just a waste for everyone.

cheshire137 9y ago

It's a big problem in Nashville, too. Many parts have no sidewalks at all.

volkl48 9y ago

Lighting up large sections of highway causes massive light pollution (which not only is ugly, but is detrimental to nature) along with high energy consumption and maintenance costs for not all that much in safety benefit. I'm generally skeptical of the value of doing so for a long highway rather than just at interchanges/the like. Belgium is one of the brightest spots on the planet because of their overuse of it (and that's an improvement from how bad it used to be): http://thismustbebelgium.com/belgium-spotted-space/ http://thismustbebelgium.com/belgium-spotted-space/