[CydeWeys]

> There are millions of miles of sidewalks to fix and hundreds of thousands of people responsible for them.

Again, I don't think you read the article. The sidewalks are in the best condition in cities like Boston, where they are the responsibility of the city. Cities are already responsible for constructing and maintaining roads; is it really so crazy that they do the same for the sidewalks that are built adjacent to roads? In what way does it make sense having hundreds of thousands of individual owners of patches of sidewalk 20 m long? You're throwing away all economies of scale there.

Good sidewalks benefit everyone. I've almost injured myself from tripping over a particularly uneven patch of sidewalk, and many people have actually injured themselves. The elderly and the blind who walk won't benefit from better wheelchairs, but they certainly will benefit from better, flatter sidewalks. Everyone benefits.

[arprocter]

The brick sidewalks in Boston are notoriously uneven - very easy to trip if you aren't paying attention

[volkl48]

Most sidewalks in Boston are normal concrete, not brick. I've only seen the brick in some of the historic sections.