Can "Walkable" and "Bucolic" Go Hand in Hand?

"The District plans to build sidewalks along city streets without them whenever these streets are scheduled for repaving. This is prudent public policy. But heated controversy has arisen along several sidewalkless D.C. neighborhood streets where residents have taken -- pardon the expression -- opposing sides.

"...Some think that having a sidewalk poses more dangers than not having a sidewalk. They foresee pedestrians colliding with bicyclists or skateboarders, or people using wheelchairs unable to negotiate steeper grades. Unspoken by those who seem enclave-minded is a fear that, if a sidewalk is built along their street, people who live elsewhere might decide to walk into and through their neighborhood domain.

"Sidewalks can directly abut curbs, appearing integral to the paved cartway. Or they can be separated from the curb by a planting strip, which also can vary in width and treatment. A walkway along a street can meander, curving around trees, shrubs, stones, drainage inlets, utility poles and other elements in the right-of-way. It can look more like a path in a park than an urban sidewalk. "