Sidewalk roulette: Who should pay for our public spaces?
An unassuming sidewalk is something we tread on daily, but rarely give it a second thought. Yet it sits at the crossroads of property rights, local democracy, public health, climate resilience, and urban planning. On this intriguing episode of Mountain Money, co-hosts Roger Goldman and Kevin Kennedy sit down with Michael Pollack, professor of law at the Cardozo School of Law and author of Sidewalk Nation: Life and Law of America's Most Overlooked Resource. Pollack breaks down why putting the financial burden of sidewalk repairs on adjacent property owners is an inequitable "sidewalk roulette," how cities like Denver are reforming public space management through voter referendums, and why simplifying municipal oversight into a dedicated "Department of Sidewalks" could unlock tremendous economic and social value for communities across the country.
