Book review: 'Sidewalk Nation: The Life and Law of America’s Most Overlooked Resource'

This review is part of a special collaboration between Planetizen and Booked on Planning, a biweekly podcast where AICP planner Stephanie Rouse and Jennifer Hiatt chat with authors of the latest books shaping urban planning today. Listen to the episode with today’s author in the player below. 

You probably walk on them every day, but how often have you stopped to actually think about sidewalks? I know I don’t. But Michael Pollack does. And he turns a spotlight on the modest strips of concrete beneath our feet in his book “Sidewalk Nation: The Life and Law of America’s Most Overlooked Resource.” Pollack reveals that sidewalks are one of the most vital — and fiercely contested — arenas of modern American public life.

Pollack analyzes sidewalks through a broad lens, looking at a wide range of communities from the largest cities in the world to the smallest, rural mountain towns; red and blue cities; cities that take pride in their sidewalks and cities that don’t have any. He uses these on-the-ground visits to explore how varied communities manage, or fail to manage, their public pathways.

Rather than delivering a dry treatise on local ordinances, Pollack weaves together human-centered stories with legal expertise in property law, zoning, and municipal governance. He examines the practical questions that impact public right-of-way: How does a city balance ADA accessibility requirements with outdoor dining? Who should be responsible for snow removal? How do sidewalks intersect with our constitutional rights?

What makes “Sidewalk Nation” such a compelling read is Pollack’s ability to take mundane municipal issues and show the importance of their social and political consequences. Sidewalks are where property rights collide with public access, where small businesses fight for patio space, and pressing debates around homelessness, policing, and equity play out daily.

Pollack argues that sidewalks should not be treated as leftover space or an afterthought of urban planning, but rather as crucial social infrastructure. He calls for a forward-looking vision of reform, the “Department of Sidewalks,” and calls on local governments to secure proper funding and take direct responsibility for maintaining and protecting these communal spaces. No more piecemeal networks created by leaving sidewalk construction and maintenance to private property owners.

Written from the perspective of a person who knows a thing or two about sidewalks, “Sidewalk Nation” will permanently change the way you navigate your own community. It is an important read for urban planners, legal scholars, local policymakers, and anyone who cares about building more livable, equitable, and walkable communities. Pollack proves that if we want to fix our public life, the place to start is somewhere you walk every day.