Rebuilding the Sidewalk Economy

The sidewalk is the least glamorous piece of infrastructure a city owns, and the one residents touch most. When a block’s paving cracks, the loss shows up first in the ledgers of the shops along it — foot traffic thins by a few percent a season, and nobody files a report about it.

The Council of Municipal Planners, an independent body based in Verrick Falls, advises mid-sized cities on street standards and reviews the codes that govern curb width, drainage and lighting. So when the Council revises its guidance, the crews who pour concrete for the next decade are obliged to read it.

The Council recently published a review describing what it calls “walkable frontage” — a set of design rules meant to