10 more inches! Walking on slush and ice veiled sidewalks flanked by foot-high snow banks can drain all enthusiasm for winter. The best is when you’re walking, and you reach a curb that has been plowed shut, and there’s a little six-inch wide tunnel carved out by previous pedestrians through which you have to navigate. Really works the tiny stabilizer muscle that normal walking can’t touch.
And while the city of Cambridge promises here to “clear the streets as soon as possible,” when it comes to sidewalks, property owners are only required to shovel “within 12 hours after snow stops falling in the daytime, and before 1 p.m. when the snow has fallen during the night,” making some lovely forced street walking.
I call for the city of Cambridge to take responsibility for clearing all of the sidewalks instead of relying on residents and property owners to shovel lest face a paltry $25 fine. Yep, $25. Who wouldn’t be tempted to pay $25 in lieu of shoveling two feet of snow?
