Shouldn’t neighborhoods be allowed to manage themselves?

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The residents of West David Road have come together to fight a government sidewalk mandate. The city of Kettering, Ohio is forcing the small neighborhood to shell out $53,000 for new sidewalks.

The neighborhood staunchly opposes the measure: residents have been protesting the decision by displaying “No Sidewalk” signs in their yards and have even started a website: nosidewalk.com.

The website says that 23 of West David Road’s 25 residents oppose the project.

The price the city is imposing is too high for residents who are already financially strained. One resident, a widow working full time to put her son through college, says she will not be able to foot the colossal bill.

The city says that it must override residents’ concerns because streets without sidewalks are unsafe. But residents say that there has not been a single automobile-pedestrian accident on the street in over 20 years.

Their website lists a variety of reasons why the forced installation of sidewalks would be a bad idea. The last argument may be the most powerful: “These are our homes and our property, we live here and we do not want the city to make changes that we do not want.”

“This is our property, our home, we live here,” says neighbor Thomas Craft. “This is our castle and we like it the way it is.”







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