I live downtown and first noticed the increase in sandwich boards on the sidewalks this summer. Then I noticed the other obstacles that restrict and narrow the use of the sidewalks for pedestrians. In addition to the sandwich boards, there are trees, trash barrels, magazine stands, bike racks, planters, motorcycles, street musicians and people sitting asking for money! On these crowded sidewalks, there doesn’t seem to be an awareness of where anything is placed and how their placement can restrict movement. Our sidewalks look cluttered and are inconsiderate of pedestrians.
— Paul Viera
Asheville
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I’m not sure if this letter is satire or not, as except for the homeless asking for money, all those other aforementioned things sound like good things.
Did you happen to notice (among all those sidewalk safety hazards) any pedestrians glued to their phones who didn’t bother to watch where they were going?