L.A. Might be Forced to Fix Its Crumbling Sidewalks

After willfully neglecting to adequately maintain its sidewalks for decades, the city may be forced into action by lawsuits by disabled residents. However the issue of sidewalk maintenance is of concern to a much wider group of constituents in a city (from the Mayor on down) that is consciously trying to create more walkable communities and increase transit ridership.

""The city has never developed a comprehensive plan to address this issue, even when economic times were good," said Surisa Rivers, an attorney with the L.A.-based Disability Rights Legal Center. 'Such failure hasn't been a story about the city's inability to finance disability access, but the lack of political will to do so.'

The campaign is being led by the disabled but is also winning support from advocates of alternative transportation. They argue the city spends far too much fixing roads and not enough making L.A. a more walkable place."