A concerned citizen files a 311 complaint just in time for all the snow we could get over the next week:
If abutters are required to clear the sidewalk in front of their property, can they then have a space saver like car owners are allowed in the street? I’ll put up a nice planter and cafe table, or a bike rack for me and my neighbors! Either the sidewalk is a public way that needs to be maintained by the city or its private property that’s maintained by the property owner. The City doesn’t get to have it both ways :)
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You know....
By Roach McKrackin
Fri, 02/07/2025 - 4:27pm
They're out of line, but they're right 😅💀
”If I clear the snow off a
By Kinopio
Fri, 02/07/2025 - 5:12pm
”If I clear the snow off a park bench, only I can sit there even if I am not currently using it. And if I come back to the bench and someone is there I will commit assault and destruction of property”
When you extend the parking space saver “system” to other public spaces that people pay $0 for you realize how entitled, dumb and psychotic it is. Drivers are unique in their awfulness. Pedestrians, subway riders, cyclists etc actually know how to act like decent people even when there is a few inches of snow on the ground.
space savers?
By Vicki
Fri, 02/07/2025 - 6:05pm
If it's like space savers, the person complaining should only be able to put out that table or planter after shoveling the snow, and be required to remove it a few days later. It seems a little hard on the flowers, though.
All space savers should be illegal.
By Lee
Fri, 02/07/2025 - 6:15pm
End of story.
If they serve hot coffee to passers-by...
By Friartuck
Fri, 02/07/2025 - 6:24pm
Drop the address and hours of operation here. Winter Cafe Fest!
Sounds reasonable——
By Errico
Fri, 02/07/2025 - 7:07pm
That person should try it and see how it goes. If they get a ticket they should fight it all the way to the Supreme Court. If you want to talk the talk be prepared to do some walking.
I got a better one
By what what now?
Fri, 02/07/2025 - 7:20pm
God put the snow there. God will melt it when he does.
Stop your whining...
By eddie van halen
Fri, 02/07/2025 - 10:15pm
..."concerned citizen."
People are misreading this complaint
By Waquiot
Fri, 02/07/2025 - 10:33pm
Yes, I get people's obsession with space savers, but they are in fact griping about being made to shovel the sidewalks in front of their property, the idea being that if the city is saying that the sidewalk, though public, is somehow the responsibility of the abutters, why not extend that 6 feet out into the street.
I don't agree with the sentiment, but I would also say that the sidewalk is an amenity gifted to the abutters, and honestly, any half decent property owner can do a better job at sidewalks than most municipalities who clear sidewalks tend to do.
property owners have no leg to stand on
By qwerty
Mon, 02/10/2025 - 12:02pm
Agreed. Furthermore, the privilege of owning property in this city comes with certain rights and responsibilities. One of those responsibilities is clearing the snow from the sidewalk. If that's too much of a burden they should sell the property. Public/Private blurred property lines are a reality almost everywhere in the country. If you own a house with a strip of grass between the sidewalk and street, you usually have to maintain it even though it is public property.
Suburbanites all across New England have to deal with clearing their driveways. Some very long, wide and steep. A bit of sidewalk isn't so bad.
We don't need to fund an initiative to have the city clear the snow. We just need enforcement of the current rules and more enticing fines.
I'm not sure that's it
By lbb
Mon, 02/10/2025 - 4:40pm
Complainant seems to be arguing that if they shovel the sidewalk, they should be able to have some sort of exclusive use of it. Or are they arguing that anybody can set up a sidewalk cafe on any stretch of sidewalk, regardless of who shoveled it?
People who Use 311 like this
By StillFromDorchester
Sat, 02/08/2025 - 4:16pm
Are amusing. not to 311 employees I'm sure
Is there any conceivable
By Bob Leponge
Sun, 02/09/2025 - 10:21pm
Is there any conceivable scenario in which the property owner is not ultimately responsible for clearing the sidewalk of snow? Either the property owner does it directly, or the city collects taxes from the property owner, which the city then uses to hire people to remove the snow. In any case the property owner is either doing or or paying for it to be done.
File this complaint under “people incapable of thinking things through.”
You’re a smart guy
By robo
Sun, 02/09/2025 - 10:43pm
Do you really think if the city collected a tax for sidewalk snow clearing, 100% of that tax would be used for that purpose in perpetuity?
No, I think the city collects
By Bob Leponge
Tue, 02/11/2025 - 11:29am
No, I think the city collects taxes that go into the general fund, and through our duly elected representatives, we get to decide whether we would rather clean the snow from the sidewalks in front of our property by spending some of that money on fielding sidewalk cleaning crews, with all the associated overhead and costs related to surge capacity after storms, or whether we'd rather clean the snow from sidewalks ourselves. But at the end of the day, we're taking care of removing the snow one way or the other, an inescapable fact that seems completely lost on the people saying "The city ought to do it."
As somebody who pays property
By NoMoreBanks
Mon, 02/10/2025 - 4:16pm
As somebody who pays property tax I would far rather get an extra tax and have the city do it. I'm able bodied and moderately fit and can shovel just fine, and do, but I still think it'd be better if it was a municipal responsibility. Benefits of this being conducted by the city and paid for via tax:
<ol>
<li>Economy of scale. Each foot of sidewalk cleared would be far cheaper as the city already owns the equipment and would be doing it at-scale</li>
<li>Less worry/more reliable. If I'm out of town and it snows, I have to scramble to find someone (who I'm paying) to come over and do it. Last time, the guy flaked on me and I got a ticket despite attempting to be responsible. If I'm paying somebody I'd rather pay the city, because of the point above</li>
<li>Sidewalks are a network. I can completely shovel every inch of "my" sidewalk to bare concrete and it is still functionally useless for people who need to use it, because the dipshits next door on either side don't shovel at all. They get tickets, but that doesn't actually clean the sidewalk. The city recognizes you cannot have a patchwork network - that's why they plow streets</li>
<li>Better for our less fortunate neighbors. The elderly, the sick, the disabled, the single mother working 15 hours a day - it's a genuine struggle for them to shovel themselves, and then they're relying on the same pool of gig-workers who are flushed with work (because everybody's shoveling at the same time) and paying premiums they don't have. Or relying on the private charity of their neighbors. The city should be stepping up and taking care of these people.</li>
</ol>
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