[rossdavidh]

In, for example, Austin (my home), most sidewalks allow biking. There's a city code that lists which sidewalks are NOT allowed for biking, and it mostly amounts to "any sidewalk that people actually use for walking" (which is a small minority).

I think one issue is that motorists notice bikes on the road or bike lane more than they notice bikes on sidewalks, hence more likely to hit them when turning. But I agree it's a way to bootstrap up.