Let’s say you drive over a pothole in front of your house in Denver and call the city. They come fix it within a few days. Problem solved.

Now let’s say the problem is the sidewalk in front of your house. You call the city again.

Until recently, city staff would have pointed you to their “Homeowner’s Do-It Yourself Guide for Hazardous Sidewalks,” where it clearly states that “sidewalk maintenance is the responsibility of the adjacent property owner.” This online document then suggests that if you need to remove a tripping hazard from your sidewalk, you could rent a “Masonry Rotary Grinder” from your local rental center.

Be sure to also get yourself some eye protection.

In most U.S. cities, a pothole is treated as a public problem, but a broken sidewalk – even one that blocks access – is treated as the homeowner’s problem.

It is not this way everywhere. In some older U.S. cities such as Boston and Washington, sidewalks have long been a public responsibility – the same as streets, water lines and sewers. But cities that grew up in a different era – or cities eager to offload maintenance and legal responsibility – treated sidewalks not as fundamental infrastructure but as an amenity tied to adjacent property.

More than three-quarters of the 30 most-populous U.S. cities take that same approach.

But not Denver – at least, not anymore. In 2022, the city changed its rules, not because city leaders suddenly changed course, but because advocates such as Jill Locantore and the Denver Streets Partnership got tired of waiting, organized and took the issue to the ballot.........

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