Sidewalks? Too pedestrian for some

Sidewalks are a fine thing in a city, Charles Upham says. But Upham and many of his neighbors don't want one on their quiet Golden Valley street.

"Sidewalk is a four-letter word," he said. "U-G-L-Y."

Retrofitting suburbs with sidewalks is generating debate in some cities around the metro. Aiming to create a safe place to walk and link neighborhoods with parks and shopping areas, some suburban officials are instead encountering resistant homeowners who view sidewalks as an encroachment on privacy and pristine lawns.

The result? The installation of sidewalks has become one of the hardest things on some city officials' to-do lists.

"Some people hate sidewalks, and some people love sidewalks," said Kevin Frazell, a former city administrator who now works for the League of Minnesota Cities.

While sidewalks have come back into fashion in some "new urbanist" developments, he said, "When you take yard space away from people, they're unpopular." And they grow more unpopular, he said, when strangers begin walking by on what was previously "private space."

Fans of sidewalks say they're symbolic of community, leading to encounters with neighbors, promoting safety and motivating people to get out of their cars and walk.

That's all fine for them, said Rachel Erickson, one of Charles Upham's neighbors on Golden Valley's Culver Road. "I believe that there is a place for sidewalks," she said, "but it is not in this neighborhood."

Home is who we are

Cities grappling with the sidewalk issue include Edina, Excelsior and Golden Valley -- older suburbs where many developers left them out on purpose.

Sidewalks have a long history: The ruins of Pompeii show the city's streets were lined with raised stone walkways in 79 A.D. When Minneapolis was in its infancy in the 1800s, citizens strolled on wooden walkways to keep their feet out of mud and manure.

But sidewalks were the antithesis of post-World War II suburbs, which aimed at green expanses, big views and front lawns that were visible yet private.

University of Minnesota cultural studies Prof. John Archer is an expert on suburbs. Traditionally, U.S. suburbs aimed to look as much as possible like a rural landscapes, he said, with pristine lawns, winding roads, a leisurely feel -- and no sidewalks.

While sidewalks can build community and connections, not everyone wants to live in that kind of neighborhood, Archer said.

"Place matters," he said. "In many respects, the house is very much about who you are. You see that in the way people feel so deeply and precisely the changes to their lifestyle and their self-image and their place in life.

"For us, your home is your identity. And when you change your home and how you use your home, it's about who you are."

They're a tough sell

In Excelsior, about half of the streets have sidewalks, but that doesn't mean they're wanted. People sometimes request that their sidewalk be removed, Mayor Nick Ruehl said. City officials are embroiled in a debate about how to pay for sidewalk replacement. But Ruehl would like to see more sidewalks in his city.

"I like them," he said. "It's much more safe; it promotes walking. ... When you have children, people walking with dogs, they don't mix with bikes or other traffic. That, to me, is the issue."

In Edina, Director of Public Works Wayne Houle said new sidewalks are at the top of his "hard-to-do" list.

Edina has just 25 miles of sidewalk for 230 miles of road (compare that with Minneapolis, with roughly 2,000 miles of sidewalk for about 1,000 miles of road). The city recommends adding sidewalks when traffic reaches roughly 500 to 750 vehicles a day.

Two new sidewalk projects probably will be voted on by Edina's City Council this fall. They were proposed three and four years ago.

Houle attributed the lag partly to a staff shortage, but he said the projects also move slowly because dozens of homeowners are involved and the process wears hard on city staff.

People object to losing part of their front lawn, even though the city owns the land next to the road as a public right-of-way.

Older people whose kids are grown and gone don't see the need for a sidewalk. And some people cling to the rural ideal, wanting to see green space instead of concrete.

"Getting them in is the issue," Houle said. "Usually people oppose them at the start, but enjoy them once they're in."

One of the new sidewalks is proposed for Halifax Ave., a residential street used as a shortcut by drivers going to 50th and France.

Rita Peluso circulated the petition calling for a sidewalk in 2004 after her husband's parked car was totalled on the street.

She immediately thought of all the times she'd told her daughters, who are now 8 and 13, to stay out of the road.

Peluso said last week that traffic on Halifax is "a nightmare." She hopes the city approves a sidewalk, pointing to one that was added a few years ago to nearby Maple Road as a model.

"It didn't make it real urban and city-like," she said. "It looks beautiful. Like a family street."

But a few doors down Halifax, Sheila Pierce doesn't want a sidewalk. She worries about the expense, landscaping and how senior citizens on the street would shovel and maintain the walks.

"I understand families with younger children being concerned," Pierce said. "It just depends on what your needs are."

In Golden Valley, about 40 homeowners are lobbying the city to drop its plan to widen Culver Road and add a sidewalk.

Traffic is simply too light to need one, Upham said. And he has other objections to sidewalks beyond the U-G-L-Y factor: People drive faster on roads with sidewalks. Sidewalks harm the environment by creating runoff. They add work for homeowners.

Culver Road has been targeted as a location for a sidewalk since 1970, said Jeannine Clancy, director of public works.

The sidewalk would link to walking paths and a pedestrian bridge over Hwy. 100. Like Edina, Golden Valley replaces trees and shrubs that are removed for a sidewalk. The city also removes the snow from sidewalks, Clancy said.

Rachel Erickson and her husband grew up in the suburbs and live in a 1949 rambler. It is their first home.

Erickson has economic objections to a sidewalk and says the peaceful street doesn't need the walks. But she has aesthetic worries, too. She loves her "charming" house with the big maple tree. When she and her husband bought a house, she said, they were buying more than property. They were buying a dream.

It will feel different if part of the front yard is paved, she said.

"If I wanted urban, I would have purchased urban. I wanted suburban, and bought that."

Mary Jane Smetanka • 612-673-7380

Mary Jane Smetanka • smetan@startribune.com