Probably not. The land to either side of roads is typically owned by the road-owning entity already, in case they need to make improvements.
Even in my urban environment, the city owns the verge, the sidewalk, and something like eight inches past the sidewalk, six inches past everyone’s front fence.
I live in NJ (where this guy is coming from) and I’d say the bigger problem isn’t eminent domain. It’s homeowners who don’t want sidewalks in their neighborhood. The idea is that walking is for the poors, and we are clearly too classy for such things as basic public safety.
The wealthier the town (around here) the less likely a residential area is to have a sidewalk. They advertise and brag about “walkable” downtowns like it’s a cute novelty not a given that should apply to every street.
To be fair though, a lot of these quiet suburban streets are very safe to walk along. Pedestrian accidents on quiet suburban streets here are mostly unheard of.
Probably not. The land to either side of roads is typically owned by the road-owning entity already, in case they need to make improvements.
Even in my urban environment, the city owns the verge, the sidewalk, and something like eight inches past the sidewalk, six inches past everyone’s front fence.
I live in NJ (where this guy is coming from) and I’d say the bigger problem isn’t eminent domain. It’s homeowners who don’t want sidewalks in their neighborhood. The idea is that walking is for the poors, and we are clearly too classy for such things as basic public safety.
The wealthier the town (around here) the less likely a residential area is to have a sidewalk. They advertise and brag about “walkable” downtowns like it’s a cute novelty not a given that should apply to every street.
To be fair though, a lot of these quiet suburban streets are very safe to walk along. Pedestrian accidents on quiet suburban streets here are mostly unheard of.
Fuck that, give me my NJ sidewalks. The sidewalk fucking ENDS and it’s a crime. A crime. Let me walk to fucking wawa without dying!!