3 ms·

> Your logic applies equally to roads as it does to sidewalks, so should we just give up on them as well? No, but I wouldn't drive a low-riding sports car if I

by jbob2000 9y ago

> Your logic applies equally to roads as it does to sidewalks, so should we just give up on them as well? No, but I wouldn't drive a low-riding sports car if I lived in an area with crappy roads. I'd buy a pickup truck with good suspension and large knobby tires. The problem is that accessibility devices don't have the option of "good suspension and large knobby tires". Every problem that woman experiences is because her wheelchair is not built for the environment she operates in. We need better wheelchairs. Yelling at local state government to fix sidewalks will not work. There are millions of miles of sidewalks to fix and hundreds of thousands of people responsible for them. You can't change that quickly. But you can build a better wheelchair.

CydeWeys 9y ago
> There are millions of miles of sidewalks to fix and hundreds of thousands of people responsible for them. Again, I don't think you read the article. The sidewalks are in the best condition in cities like Boston, where they are the responsibility of the city. Cities are already responsible for constructing and maintaining roads; is it really so crazy that they do the same for the sidewalks that are built adjacent to roads? In what way does it make sense having hundreds of thousands of individual owners of patches of sidewalk 20 m long? You're throwing away all economies of scale there. Good sidewalks benefit everyone. I've almost injured myself from tripping over a particularly uneven patch of sidewalk, and many people have actually injured themselves. The elderly and the blind who walk won't benefit from better wheelchairs, but they certainly will benefit from better, flatter sidewalks. Everyone benefits.
- arprocter 9y ago
  The brick sidewalks in Boston are notoriously uneven - very easy to trip if you aren't paying attention
  - volkl48 9y ago
    Most sidewalks in Boston are normal concrete, not brick. I've only seen the brick in some of the historic sections.
maxerickson 9y ago
The good wheelchair was too expensive. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBOT https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBOT
asfdsaf 9y ago
And there are hundreds of thousands of un(der)employed decaying middle class men. Who used to fix sidewalks among other things.
sulam 9y ago
These are new (enough) sidewalks in an area that is highly developed.

CydeWeys 9y ago

> There are millions of miles of sidewalks to fix and hundreds of thousands of people responsible for them. Again, I don't think you read the article. The sidewalks are in the best condition in cities like Boston, where they are the responsibility of the city. Cities are already responsible for constructing and maintaining roads; is it really so crazy that they do the same for the sidewalks that are built adjacent to roads? In what way does it make sense having hundreds of thousands of individual owners of patches of sidewalk 20 m long? You're throwing away all economies of scale there. Good sidewalks benefit everyone. I've almost injured myself from tripping over a particularly uneven patch of sidewalk, and many people have actually injured themselves. The elderly and the blind who walk won't benefit from better wheelchairs, but they certainly will benefit from better, flatter sidewalks. Everyone benefits.

arprocter 9y ago
The brick sidewalks in Boston are notoriously uneven - very easy to trip if you aren't paying attention
- volkl48 9y ago
  Most sidewalks in Boston are normal concrete, not brick. I've only seen the brick in some of the historic sections.

maxerickson 9y ago

The good wheelchair was too expensive. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBOT https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBOT

asfdsaf 9y ago

And there are hundreds of thousands of un(der)employed decaying middle class men. Who used to fix sidewalks among other things.

sulam 9y ago

These are new (enough) sidewalks in an area that is highly developed.