Brewed Fresh Daily

"Here's an easy question: Who owns the sidewalk in front of your house? If you say the city owns it, it's clear you don't live in Cleveland. There, property owners are responsible for the sidewalks, and when the city repairs them it sends the owners a bill. Not surprisingly, many are not pleased to learn that they are the proud owners of a sidewalk. Take Nick Biel, who recently got a bill for $960 for repairs. 'Everybody thought the sidewalks and curbs were the city's (responsibility), because that's what we pay taxes for,' he said. That attitude (it's the city's sidewalk, not mine) is so widespread that the city is, by stages, doing just what Biel wants: Taking responsibility for the sidewalks. Since the 1970s, the city has set aside money to pay for some of the repairs. Today, the government pays roughly half the cost to fix your (repeat: your) sidewalk. This is so important to city council members, who get an earful from constituents when sidewalk bills are sent out, that they threatened recently to vote down Mayor Jane Campbell's proposed $27.4 million bond issue because it didn't have any money for sidewalk repairs. The mayor got the message: There's now $2.1 million for sidewalks in the bond issue. "