# What did you do growing up in a neighborhood with no sidewalks? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 1, 2018, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-do-growing-up-in-a-neighborhood-with-no-sidewalks/813440 "2018-05-01T22:09:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Bayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bayaker/32/3454_2.png) [@Bayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2018, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-do-growing-up-in-a-neighborhood-with-no-sidewalks/813440/61 "2018-05-03T00:40:03Z")
Aaaand loving it! ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2018, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-do-growing-up-in-a-neighborhood-with-no-sidewalks/813440/62 "2018-05-03T02:17:31Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Of course we got wet and muddy. That’s why there was a mud room in the house, to take off the muddy boots, shoes, whatever. > > Just where are you from? 😕 I bet the OP will be even **more** horrified to learn that there are places in the US, like the very town I’m posting from, that don’t have city water, city sewer, or, gasp(!) even pick up your trash! The transfer station is only open twice a week - two and a half days from Memorial to Labor day, though - you need to pay for special bags, and then truck both your trash and recycling there yourself. The town only snow plows main roads too, so if you’re on a small street like this one, you and the neighbors have to work it out on your own. No easy feat when we got an ungodly 100" of snow this year. And to be honest, I’m baffled at how this town is able to provide the services it _does_ pay for, like schools and a library, fire trucks, police etc. for the about 10,000 of us living here, considering the annual town budget is the same as my non-profit workplace’s: 4 million dollars. We could afford one sidewalk. Maybe. If it was pretty short. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2018, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-do-growing-up-in-a-neighborhood-with-no-sidewalks/813440/63 "2018-05-03T13:10:02Z")
> [@XT](#): > > Man…you guys had actual narrow boards, razor blades AND broken glass? We dreamed of such things… You had dreams?!! LUXURY!! We were forced to sleep next to a loudspeaker that emitted an ear-piercing shriek every 20 seconds to ensure we couldn’t maintain a coherent thought! ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2018, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-do-growing-up-in-a-neighborhood-with-no-sidewalks/813440/64 "2018-05-03T14:29:40Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > We could afford one sidewalk. Maybe. If it was pretty short. There’s a half dozen NH towns that come to mind based on your description. With a few more hints I might even be able to guess which one. 🙂 The NH towns I lived in were a bit more cosmopolitan. ---
**Author:** ![phreesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2018, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-do-growing-up-in-a-neighborhood-with-no-sidewalks/813440/65 "2018-05-03T20:19:10Z")
I have lived in a city with sidewalks most places and I find a lack of a sidewalk an annoyance, but not the end of the world. It sucks most on rainy days and when there’s been a big dump of snow. On rainy days you’re constantly avoiding puddles and having to veer a few feet into the road to do so. And when there’s been snow banks you have clamber up and down all the time. I will say that (in areas where sidewalks are generally expected) the lack of sidewalk does send a message to possible pedestrians that they’re not welcome. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2018, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-do-growing-up-in-a-neighborhood-with-no-sidewalks/813440/66 "2018-05-03T21:05:33Z")
> [@phreesh](#): > > I will say that (in areas where sidewalks are generally expected) the lack of sidewalk does send a message to possible pedestrians that they’re not welcome. Or maybe the homeowner has much more important things to spend the money on. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2018, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-do-growing-up-in-a-neighborhood-with-no-sidewalks/813440/67 "2018-05-03T21:17:50Z")
I grew up in a neighborhood with no sidewalks and lots of traffic. There wasn’t anywhere to go that was in walking distance except other houses. Kids would cut through yards to get where they needed to go. Nobody was nasty enough to make kids walk along the road where they’d likely get hit by a car. ---
**Author:** ![Crazy\_Canuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazy_canuck/32/5282_2.png) [@Crazy\_Canuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazy_Canuck)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2018, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-do-growing-up-in-a-neighborhood-with-no-sidewalks/813440/68 "2018-05-03T21:59:10Z")
> [@Paintcharge](#): > > We played football in the street. Periodically, someone would yell out “CAR!” and the game paused. Same here, except because I was in Canada, it was street hockey. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-do-growing-up-in-a-neighborhood-with-no-sidewalks/813440/69 "2018-05-04T03:24:44Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > There’s a half dozen NH towns that come to mind based on your description. With a few more hints I might even be able to guess which one. 🙂 And 45 more towns you didn’t think of 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Contemplation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Contemplation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contemplation)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-do-growing-up-in-a-neighborhood-with-no-sidewalks/813440/70 "2018-05-04T03:25:24Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > Or maybe the homeowner has much more important things to spend the money on. That’s odd, I thought sidewalks were maintained by the county, state, or city government along with the street itself. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-do-growing-up-in-a-neighborhood-with-no-sidewalks/813440/71 "2018-05-04T04:58:47Z")
> [@Contemplation](#): > > That’s odd, I thought sidewalks were maintained by the county, state, or city government along with the street itself. Maintenance is usually the responsibility of the property owner. Or perhaps some kind of homeowner’s association. That said, I don’t know that it’s usually the homeowner’s choice to _install_ the sidewalk. I think that’s usually done either by government decree or by the original developer. My city requires all new residential streets to have sidewalks whether anyone wants them or not (but they’re only required once a house is built on a particular lot, so in an unfinished area (which can last a long time) there are just a bunch of useless dead end stubs of sidewalks all over the place). ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-do-growing-up-in-a-neighborhood-with-no-sidewalks/813440/72 "2018-05-04T13:55:56Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > Maintenance is usually the responsibility of the property owner. Or perhaps some kind of homeowner’s association. Not around here. Generally speaking, sidewalks here (where they exist) are built in the public right-of-way and maintained by the entity that maintains the road. There may be cases where a subdivision, through the HOA, installed and maintains sidewalks as an amenity, but those are not common. In the (also uncommon here) case of snow or ice, the property owner is expected to clear the sidewalk - the city/county/state won’t do that. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-do-growing-up-in-a-neighborhood-with-no-sidewalks/813440/73 "2018-05-04T14:29:08Z")
> [@Lasciel](#): > > I don’t understand the question. > > It’s a neighborhood- there’s little to no traffic and the traffic that there is knows everyone and is either related to or works for everyone else. Some of the suburban, sidewalk-less neighborhood where I’ve lived in the US had constant traffic, which often moved faster than at the freeway nearby (as that tended to perma-clog). > [@Contemplation](#): > > That’s odd, I thought sidewalks were maintained by the county, state, or city government along with the street itself. Varies by location. In the case of the Miami Metro area, by township; one of the signs that you’ve gone over a township line is the changes in sidewalks (exist or not, walkable or minefields). ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-do-growing-up-in-a-neighborhood-with-no-sidewalks/813440/74 "2018-05-04T14:41:59Z")
I enjoyed growing up in an area with 1acre minimum yards and no sidewalks. It was preferable to my current planned community of shoddily constructed major developer homes with sidewalks and bike trails. It was around 1/8th of a mile from my house to the street, then I walked or biked along the side of the road to my friends’ houses or downtown or to the ballpark or whatever scenic route I felt like taking. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-do-growing-up-in-a-neighborhood-with-no-sidewalks/813440/75 "2018-05-04T15:01:15Z")
I grew up in a rural area, there were no sidewalks and no neighborhoods either. To get to my friend’s house I walked through the woods, either on trails, followed a creek, or just trudged through the leaves with no trail at all. On the back roads I rode a bike for miles. ---
**Author:** ![Bayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bayaker/32/3454_2.png) [@Bayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-do-growing-up-in-a-neighborhood-with-no-sidewalks/813440/76 "2018-05-04T15:03:32Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Varies by location. In the case of the Miami Metro area, by township; one of the signs that you’ve gone over a township line is the changes in sidewalks (exist or not, walkable or minefields). Do you mean maybe Miami, Ohio? Because Florida does not have townships. They’re more of a northern/midwestern thing. But your point is valid- most metropolitan areas will have municipal boundaries that are invisible except for minor differences like street signs, and indeed, sidewalks. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-do-growing-up-in-a-neighborhood-with-no-sidewalks/813440/77 "2018-05-04T15:13:37Z")
My neighborhood had sidewalks running along about half a mile of the minor arterial and along one side of the larger arterial for about the same distance. Nowhere else that comes to mind around there. We walked in the street. I went through that gate in the back fence, through our neighbor’s yard, on my way to school, saving maybe a tenth of a mile. They seemed ok with that. Rode a school bus four or five times in 12 years and very rarely had my parents supervising the stuff I did: I think my older brother terrorized them, so they left me alone (to also be terrorized by him). ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-do-growing-up-in-a-neighborhood-with-no-sidewalks/813440/78 "2018-05-04T15:25:55Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Varies by location. In the case of the Miami Metro area, by township; one of the signs that you’ve gone over a township line is the changes in sidewalks (exist or not, walkable or minefields). Township? Hah. The street I live on had 24 houses built in 1951-1952 and 17 more built in 1956-1957. At some point between the two, my town changed the rules and required new developments to have sidewalks. As a result, the street has sidewalks from a cul-de-sac to halfway down the block, then abruptly stop and then no sidewalks the rest of the way down to the entrance to the subdivision. Even better, just this year, the town decided the spot where the sidewalks stop needs a marked crosswalk. In the middle of the block, on a cul-de-sac. After six decades. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2018, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-do-growing-up-in-a-neighborhood-with-no-sidewalks/813440/79 "2018-05-06T19:22:03Z")
Not only did we have sidewalks in West Texas, but I remember learning the patch of lawn between sidewalk and street actually belonged to the city, although we were responsible for mowing it and keeping it up. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2018, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-do-growing-up-in-a-neighborhood-with-no-sidewalks/813440/80 "2018-05-07T07:51:32Z")
> [@Bayaker](#): > > Do you mean maybe Miami, Ohio? Because Florida does not have townships. They’re more of a northern/midwestern thing. > > But your point is valid- most metropolitan areas will have municipal boundaries that are invisible except for minor differences like street signs, and indeed, sidewalks. _Municipios_. Incorporated things. Whatever the fuck they’re called, they all have different names. I was using “township” as a general term which IME and with your single exception so far was understood by people from many different countries. I still haven’t understood the concept of incorporation, dude… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-do-growing-up-in-a-neighborhood-with-no-sidewalks/813440.md?page=3)