Cardozo Law School Professor Argues Sidewalks are Pillar of Democracy in GSD Talk

Michael C. Pollack, a professor at the Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University in New York, spoke about an unexpected cornerstone of democracy in light of the upcoming midterm elections: sidewalks.

Pollack’s talk centered on his new book, titled “Sidewalk Nation: The Life and Law of America’s Most Overlooked Resource,” which was published in June. The event was hosted by the Graduate School of Design and the Bloomberg Center for Cities to discuss the current state of democracy and civic engagement.

Pollack’s research focuses on the role of property law in shaping access to public spaces and its importance in the zeitgeist.

“We’ve had sidewalks for as long as we’ve had a nation,” Pollack said. “For as long as we’ve had them, they’ve been sites of conflict, and sometimes those conflicts have been really quite weighty.”

“Fights over the role of women in our society, of people of color, immigrants, LGBTQ+ people, unhoused people, and more have all played out on the sidewalks as a sort of microcosm of what it means to be welcomed and valued and respected as an equal person in our society,” he added.

Pollack argued that sidewalks shape law and democracy as much as municipal policy shapes sidewalks. But he said that poor sidewalk conditions continue to disproportionately affect underserved neighborhoods.

“In wealthier urban communities all across the country, sidewalks and walkability are important amenities,” Pollack said. “But in poorer, underprivileged, and chronically underserved neighborhoods, sidewalks are often in no condition to serve these critical functions well. They are often in worse shape.”

He also said part of the inequity stems from “fragmented oversight and regulation” of sidewalks in different cities. He pointed to examples in New York, Louisiana, Colorado, and Texas, where cities only maintain parts of sidewalks that are in front of public buildings.

While this gives residents of an area greater discretion over their property, Pollack argued it creates inconsistencies in the urban landscape, particularly for those who rely on the sidewalk for transportation.

“The private property owners don’t necessarily have the interests of the whole city at heart, and even if they do, they may lack the ability or the resources to effectively shoulder those responsibilities, whether they’re shoveling snow or paying to repair or even install it when it is broken or non-existent.” Pollack said. “The consequence of this legal arrangement is that the quality of a neighborhood’s sidewalks rises and falls with its residents’ fortunes.”

Instead, Pollack argued for cities to establish a “department of sidewalks” — adding that it would enable more people to access sidewalks in better condition if the maintenance were centralized under a municipal government.

“We have this alphabet soup of city agencies, none of whom is really stepping back to take that 360-degree view, and that means that necessary sidewalk work and even broadly desired policy changes can sometimes just not pan out,” Pollack said.

“It means that the lines of public oversight and accountability get tangled to the point where residents don’t really know whom to blame when things go wrong.” he added.