Shoveling Etiquette

[sjwaste]

I'm hopefully done shoveling for a while. Not sure what the total snowfall was, but it was a lot and I am sore.

Does anyone else only shovel their sidewalk one shovel-width? The long side of our lot is along a main road, so the plows did a nice job of piling everything up onto the sidewalk. Today I just said screw it and shoveled it out, but only one shovel width - 22 inches.

I figure, the city still hasn't cleared the sidewalks on this road that are adjacent to the school, park, or bridge. So at least I'm better than that!

 

[bas1c]

I'm hopefully done shoveling for a while. Not sure what the total snowfall was, but it was a lot and I am sore.

Does anyone else only shovel their sidewalk one shovel-width? The long side of our lot is along a main road, so the plows did a nice job of piling everything up onto the sidewalk. Today I just said screw it and shoveled it out, but only one shovel width - 22 inches.

I figure, the city still hasn't cleared the sidewalks on this road that are adjacent to the school, park, or bridge. So at least I'm better than that!

The only shoveling etiquette I'd like to see is people not dumping their snow on their neighbor's shoveled spot. Oh, and not stealing their parking spot.

 

[YetioDoom]

Check your city's ordinances, I bet they state minimum path width requirements.

 

[sjwaste]

Check your city's ordinances, I bet they state minimum path width requirements.

They sure don't. It's my responsibility to clear it, that's it. Honestly, all it means is that two people can't walk side by side. Even the largest adult fits just fine on a 22" clearing.

Plus, any wider and I'd have to dump my snow in the street. There's nowhere else for it to go.

 

[sjwaste]

The only shoveling etiquette I'd like to see is people not dumping their snow on their neighbor's shoveled spot. Oh, and not stealing their parking spot.

Yeah, a lot of my neighbors park on the street since most of our driveways are 1-2 cars deep (single drive) and a few houses on the block are rentals.

My driveway fits 3 cars, so I don't park on the street at all. Generally, we just treat the space in front of each house as belonging to that resident, even though it really doesn't. I'm pretty damn happy I didn't have to dig out a car on the street. I shoveled my driveway all the way out to the middle of the street yesterday so that I wouldn't get plowed in.

 

[ZzZGuy]

May I suggest a snow blower? Or you live in one of those places where all you need is a push broom?

 

[Alone]

Since when do you have to shovel the sidewalk in front of your place? I thought that was city property.

 

[mizzou]

I don't have a sidewalk....but other then that I refuse to shovel anything unless I cant get my vehicle out.

I don't want to accept liability for doing a poor job

 

[sjwaste]

May I suggest a snow blower? Or you live in one of those places where all you need is a push broom?

I'm in VA. Usually I use a pushbroom. I grew up in the Northeast, but we never had a snowblower because my dad had free labor (me) to help out.

Honestly, this might be the most snow I'll see in my life unless I move back north. A 22" snow shovel will probably be all I ever need again. The kind of snowblower that can move the amount of snow we got would have to be a pretty good one (expensive, no doubt) so I don't think I'll invest just yet. But, if we get dumped on one more time this season, I'll probably be at Home Depot that day to get one. Haha.

What I really noticed is that I'm sore today in the same way I am after a hockey game, since I play so infrequently. Muscles you forgot you had.

 

[sjwaste]

Since when do you have to shovel the sidewalk in front of your place? I thought that was city property.

It's city property, but the owner has to keep it clear. Unlike many localities, the city will actually repair the concrete if it cracks or displaces, though. Kind of like I have to mow that strip of grass between the sidewalk and curb. I guess I don't HAVE to do it, but it's going to look like shit and it's next to my house.

We don't have an HOA and our city code is fairly lax, but requiring the city to come clear all of the sidewalks would just be a huge burden. I'd rather do it myself and not have to pay more taxes to have them do it.

 

[slag]

http://www.kctv5.com/news/22080993/detail.html

LAWRENCE, Kan. -- Lawrence inspectors are telling residents that if their sidewalks aren't cleared off, they could pay a fine and it could start as early as Tuesday.

The shoveling enforcement is part of the city's stricter ordinance of clearing sidewalks after snow. The ordinance said sidewalks must be cleared within 48 hours after snow stops falling in the area.

Residents can make a complaint to the city about their neighbor's lack of shoveling and a ticket will be given. Previously, only a warning was given about uncleared sidewalks.

The ticket carries a $20 fine and $52 in court costs.

 

[brblx]

if i lived in a snow state and they told me i had to shovel the public sidewalk, i'd probably ice it down just for spite. fuck that shit.

 

[Evadman]

if i lived in a snow state and they told me i had to shovel the public sidewalk, i'd probably ice it down just for spite. fuck that shit.

It would suck when someone fell, broke a leg, and then became the new owner of your house.

 

[sjwaste]

if i lived in a snow state and they told me i had to shovel the public sidewalk, i'd probably ice it down just for spite. fuck that shit.

You probably don't want the liability from icing it.

 

[brblx]

the sidewalk is not your property.

can someone sue me for having a car accident on the road in front of my house? do i need to make sure it stays plowed?

 

[Alone]

If it's public property I shouldn't be required to maintain it. If it's not public property, then people shouldn't be walking on it. Can't have both.

 

[brblx]

If it's public property I shouldn't be required to maintain it. If it's not public property, then people shouldn't be walking on it. Can't have both.

if i ever become absurdly rich, i will hire a litigator to fight a $50 ticket with this argument. i'll take it to the supreme court just so i sit on my porch with a shotgun and scream at people for walking on my goddamned sidewalk.

 

[geno]

the sidewalk is not your property.

can someone sue me for having a car accident on the road in front of my house? do i need to make sure it stays plowed?

Just about every city / town requires you maintain the sidewalk in front of your house in the event of snowfall / ice collecting.

 

[geno]

if i ever become absurdly rich, i will hire a litigator to fight a $50 ticket with this argument. i'll take it to the supreme court just so i sit on my porch with a shotgun and scream at people for walking on my goddamned sidewalk.

There's no pleasing people. If the city took care of every sidewalk in your town, the taxes from the added costs would fall on you and you'd still be bitching. Instead they put the responsibility on the homeowners who have to take a massive additional 10-15 minutes out of their day to ensure the sidewalk stays clear.

 

[SoulAssassin]

Even if it's not required by law, how about being neighborly and some common f'n courtesy? In a lot of towns kids still walk to school.

 

[Bignate603]

There's no pleasing people. If the city took care of every sidewalk in your town, the taxes from the added costs would fall on you and you'd still be bitching. Instead they put the responsibility on the homeowners who have to take a massive additional 10-15 minutes out of their day to ensure the sidewalk stays clear.

Exactly. It's not like the city can clear them for free. If your 15 minutes is so valuable that you can't clear your sidewalk you can pay somebody to do it. Paying off the neighbor's kid to come shovel for you would probably cheaper than having the government kick up your taxes to come and shovel your sidewalk.

 

[2Xtreme21]

I spent 4 hours shoveling yesterday... damn I wish I had a snowblower. My neighbor kept shoveling snow out of his driveway onto the street, which was kind of a dick move. That I think is the only real "etiquette" I'd follow.

 

[sjwaste]

I spent 4 hours shoveling yesterday... damn I wish I had a snowblower. My neighbor kept shoveling snow out of his driveway onto the street, which was kind of a dick move. That I think is the only real "etiquette" I'd follow.

I shoveled most of mine onto my own lawn because I didn't want the plow pushing it back in front of my driveway. If you shovel out into the street, it's all coming back in!

Today I shoveled some of my sidewalk out onto the street because the plows made a large mound and the snow I was shoveling couldn't really sit on top. It's sunny out, though, so it was melting just from the sun.

 

[datalink7]

Exactly. It's not like the city can clear them for free. If your 15 minutes is so valuable that you can't clear your sidewalk you can pay somebody to do it. Paying off the neighbor's kid to come shovel for you would probably cheaper than having the government kick up your taxes to come and shovel your sidewalk.

I don't know about you, but it took me a few hours of shoveling for me. Not 15 minutes.

Not that I'm complaining. Good exercise anyway. But it certainly wasn't 15 minutes (though I do live in a corner house).

 

[nageov3t]

if i lived in a snow state and they told me i had to shovel the public sidewalk, i'd probably ice it down just for spite. fuck that shit.

there's like a 99.9% chance that your city/town has an ordinance that makes the home owners responsible for the upkeep of the sidewalks in front of their homes.

when faced with a ballot initiative that gives voters a choice between having to shovel their own snow or getting raped in taxes to pay the city to hire people to shovel sidewalks, they're going to shovel their own snow.

I don't know if there's anything official on the books in my town about width, but we've only ever done 1 shovel width and it's never been a problem as long as people can walk down the street.

I live between two businesses and they're both pretty awesome about snow removal. if it snows during the week, one of them will usually run their snowblower down the sidewalk in front of the 4-family house that I live in, but we're on our own with weekend snow.