"Also, if it's a place that gets snow, you need to be as good at plowing the sidewalks or bike paths ..." :)
This is totally a thing. Several US cities plow sidewalks. Cambridge plows the protected bike paths it has put in. (I never saw the plow, but I saw the results: a nice clear track, unlike the chaos of the sidewalk cleared or not by property owners.)
I have an unsourced note that Copenhagen plows bike lanes before car lanes. I do have a source for Stockholm doing so.
"in Stockholm, said figures show men are more apt to drive while women are more likely to walk or use public transit. So when the snow starts falling, sidewalks, cycling lanes and bus lanes take priority over clearing roads. Daycare centres and schools are served first."
Sapporo and some Nordic cities have heated sidewalks, though that's something where being low density will really hurt you (too much infrastructure per taxpayer, or too much sidewalk per energy budget). Low density hurts plowing too -- but if you can plow the street, you can plow the sidewalks.
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"Also, if it's a place that gets snow, you need to be as good at plowing the sidewalks or bike paths ..." :)
This is totally a thing. Several US cities plow sidewalks. Cambridge plows the protected bike paths it has put in. (I never saw the plow, but I saw the results: a nice clear track, unlike the chaos of the sidewalk cleared or not by property owners.)
Article on Montreal; also a video, and another one.
Video section on Oulu, Finland
I have an unsourced note that Copenhagen plows bike lanes before car lanes. I do have a source for Stockholm doing so.
Sapporo and some Nordic cities have heated sidewalks, though that's something where being low density will really hurt you (too much infrastructure per taxpayer, or too much sidewalk per energy budget). Low density hurts plowing too -- but if you can plow the street, you can plow the sidewalks.