An article in Governing highlighted some of the benefits of sidewalks to an area’s social life and interconnectedness.
I remember when we bought our house in Roanoke over 20 years ago, I wouldn’t even consider neighborhoods without sidewalks. I grew up with sidewalks everywhere and they were great for us kids to be able to play on and for the adults to get around to see each other and maybe even walk over to the grocery or community pool.
Charlottesville, like Roanoke, has an incomplete sidewalk system. There is a residential street near us (Stribling) that has heavy pedestrian traffic due to the proximity to UVA but no sidewalks. It’s not terribly dangerous as the traffic is light but, at night especially, it’s definitely a place you could get hit. A similar story is on the other side of our house (Sunset Ave) that is even more narrow with no sidewalk.
To get people out walking, they have to feel safe. I know municipalities have a lot of things to spend money on, but sidewalks and other pedestrian infrastructure seems like a cheap way to do a lot of good.