Putting Cities Back on Their Feet
Publication: Journal of Urban Planning and Development
Volume 136, Issue 3
Abstract
Broken sidewalks have become an important legal issue since 2002 when the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to sidewalks. As one way to comply with the ADA, cities can require property owners to repair any broken sidewalk fronting their property before they sell the property. Before any real estate is sold, the city inspects the sidewalk fronting the property. If the sidewalk is in good condition, the city does not require the owner to do anything. If the sidewalk is broken, however, the city requires the owner to repair it before selling the property. Analysis of sales data shows that if Los Angeles had adopted a point-of-sale program in 1995, about half of the city’s 4,600 miles of broken sidewalks would have been repaired by 2007. A walkable city needs walkable sidewalks. Requiring sidewalk repairs when property is sold can help put cities back on their feet.
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Acknowledgments
The writer would like to thank Alexander Beata, Amanda Bornstein, Sabrina Bornstein, Stephen Brumbaugh, Matthew Bruno, Stephanie Ericson, Niall Huffman, Joseph Holmes, John Kenyon, David King, Michael Manville, Kathleen Matchett, Daniel Mitchell, Eric Morris, Andrea Osgood, Matthew Palmer, Gregory Pierce, Jeffrey Rabin, Adina Ringler, Anthony Rozzi, Linda Samuels, Patricia Shoup, Michael Smart, Ariel Strauss, Jacob Veverka, Andrew Whittemore, Jonathan Williams, Jonathan Yorde, and two anonymous referees for their valuable editorial contributions. The writer is also grateful to the University of California Transportation Center and the Ziman Center for Real Estate for supporting this research.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Urban Planning and Development
Volume 136 • Issue 3 • September 2010
Pages: 225 - 233
Copyright
© 2010 ASCE.
History
Received: Sep 18, 2008
Accepted: Dec 2, 2009
Published online: Dec 5, 2009
Published in print: Sep 2010
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