Back in the heady days of the early '90s, a certain local "personality" became well known in the newsgroups for his badly phrased assertion that the University had "too much sidewalks." (Whereupon our Republican friend, Colin, liked to respond: "Too much sidewalks? Yeah, and I've got too many money!")

Looks like our syntax-challenged colleague is not alone, however. In some communities, there are places where they don't have sidewalks. What surprised me was how many people don't want sidewalks.

I have yet to read about a community that doesn't want driveways. Or, indeed, how about a referendum against paved roads in general? Frankly speaking, a community without sidewalks is a place I don't want to live, because I walk everywhere. And I find dodging errant drivers disruptive to my concentration.

Disclosure: I grew up on a street that didn't have sidewalks. It made it difficult to pitch a lemonade stand in the summer, which may be at the root of all this ranting.