Pity the pedestrian, lowest creature on Sacramento’s evolutionary ladder. Cars are king. Bicycles come next. Then homeless people, who have more agency than a resident who wants to take a walk.
I learned this by accident, never thinking it was true until I realized there’s no other explanation.
Pedestrians need to face facts. The city has no love for us.
I made this discovery while researching a column last month about my friend who stands his ground when bicycles barrel toward him on city sidewalks.
My brave, stubborn friend doesn’t budge. He takes the word “sidewalk” literally. He thinks sidewalks are meant for walking, not riding bikes or pitching tents. Otherwise, they’d be called “siderides” or “campgrounds.”
I stand with him. It’s time for pedestrians to take back control of sidewalks.
My friend gets especially frustrated when cyclists try to chase him off Downtown and Midtown sidewalks that run parallel to streets where the city spends millions on dedicated bike lanes.
I checked out this phenomenon. Data collected over four days walking up and down P and Q streets revealed equal numbers riding bikes on sidewalks and riding in adjacent bike lanes.
Given that separated bike lanes cost the city about $3.5 million per mile, my study points to a scandal. The city spends mountains of dough on dedicated bike lanes when many cyclists prefer sidewalks.
Here’s the worst part. The city doesn’t care if people ride on sidewalks.
City code lets anyone ride a bike—even a throttle-driven electric beast that hits 25 mph—on any sidewalk in town.
With permission to ride on sidewalks, who needs dedicated bike lanes?
City code isn’t pointless. It gives local authorities the chance to protect pedestrians and keep cyclists on streets and bike lanes where they belong.
City code says the city manager can prohibit bicycles from taking over a sidewalk. All the manager needs to do is declare the sidewalk off-limits to cycles and post signs.
After reading the city code, I remembered I’ve never seen a sign ordering cyclists to stay off the sidewalk.
To make sure I hadn’t missed something, I asked the city for a list of sidewalks declared pedestrian-only, posted with signage.
The answer reminded me where I stood as a pedestrian. There are no signs. Every city sidewalk is an expressway for bicycles.
I shouldn’t be surprised by the indifference to people who walk. Disregard for sidewalk decorum is old news. Things struck bottom during the pandemic.
That’s when the city let homeless encampments blossom on sidewalks, including near schools, hospitals, libraries and restaurants. Sidewalks around City Hall were among the most crowded.
When my friend Jeff Harris was on City Council in 2022, he muscled through an ordinance that made blocking the sidewalk a misdemeanor.
But in city government, nobody wants to be called a Republican. This means Jeff’s 2022 law isn’t a total prohibition against blocking sidewalks.
The ordinance is a compromise. It lets people camp on sidewalks provided they leave 4 feet for pedestrians and—you guessed it—bicycles.
The bike inclusion shows where pedestrians stand. People on foot can’t even get their own sidewalk ordinance without cyclists shoving them aside.
For decades I loved walking around town. I walked every street and most alleys in The Grid. I jumped sideways for countless sidewalk cyclists. I wandered into streets to avoid disturbing unhoused neighbors snoozing in tents.
I never considered how sharing a sidewalk reduces me as a pedestrian. Not until I watched my friend stand his ground against bicycles.
Then it hit me. We’ve all been silent too long. Pedestrians must speak up for their rights.
We don’t want gasoline, batteries or handouts. We’re on the move and quiet. And we deserve some sidewalks to call our own.
R.E. Graswich can be reached at regraswich@icloud.com. Follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram: @insidesacramento.
