Sidewalk Safety
~ or Adventures of the Third Class ~
The City of Cincinnati is damn near paranoid about your sidewalk safety. This is why you so rarely see sidewalk dining or street musicians. They are a clear danger that the city seeks to protect it's citizens from. The city is currently working on saving the citizens from the horribleness of advertising on bus stop benches. yay
Citizens are required by law to keep their sidewalks clear & this pertains to snow from heaven, too.

Sec. 723-57. Removal of Snow.
The owner, occupant or other person having the care of any building premises or unimproved lot of land abutting any street where there is a graded sidewalk or a sidewalk graded and paved, shall, within the first four hours after daylight after the ceasing to fall of any snow, cause the same to be removed from the paved or traveled part of such sidewalk. The provisions of this section shall also apply to the falling of snow or ice from any building onto a sidewalk.
Snow or ice shall not be moved into the gutter when the gutter has been previously cleaned, and in no event shall snow or ice from any area other than the pedestrian walk be moved into the gutter.
(C.O. 702-33; renumbered to C.M.C. 723-57, eff. Jan. 1, 1972)
Cross references: Penalty, § 723-99-I.

So, why does the city routinely violate this law ? It's one thing to not enforce the requirement of individuals to clear their walkways, but when a pedestrian encounters walls of snow at the ends of driveways, I think some enforcement is in order. But I don't see it coming anytime soon, since a prime violator of this ordinance is the city itself.
Throughout the city, snow is moved from the streets to the sidewalks, effectively obstructing them without even offering a jaunty tune, a place to sit or a sandwich. Further, the city piles snow up at the ends of sidewalks making it akin to a mountain adventure crossing streets at designated street crossings & intersections.
Salway Park is a stunning example. The sidewalk is untouched but the parking lot is immaculate & at the entrance to the street, snow has been dumped onto the sidewalk. The fine corporate citizens at Spring grove Cemetery have done a great job of clearing their sidewalk, but remember, you gotta climb over city provided hills of black snow & wade through rivers of brown slush to risk your life crossing the street.
I realize the city's first obligation is to the good people, the zombie cage pilots, but after the streets are cleared, couldn't they kinda finish up ? Couldn't they follow their own rules & clear the obstacles they have created? and, yes, I do realize it only benefits the young, old, poor & infirm.
pathetic, shivering fleshbag peds.....
Speaking of the young - After clearing my & my neighbors sidewalks, I looked out front to see a little boy gleefully making his way down the street by climbing through the piles of snow adjacent to the freshly cleared sidewalk. kids