In Search of a City: And Ice-Free Sidewalks
Sidewalks after a snow storm reveal much about the adjoining property owner.
As I walked last week from my office to the Peanut Shoppe, I passed three remarkable properties. The first property was Broad & High, which is owned by the Casto organization. Casto had cleared its sidewalks of snow and ice. Walking past Broad & High proved to be as easy as a clear summer day.
Then I encountered the sidewalk in front of 34 N. High Street, which is managed and owned by the Tonti Organization and one of its investment groups. Tonti had made little attempt to clear snow, and it had become packed and icy. Walking became an orthopedic nightmare. Just beyond the Peanut Shoppe at High and Gay lay another stretch of untended sidewalk owned by Milan High Street LLC, an investment company from Georgia.
The experience of stumbling and cursing my way up High Street reminded me how interdependent downtown properties are. One “bad apple” can spoil the rest. I can only imagine how much business the Peanut Shoppe lost last week because of its neighbors.
February 10th, 2009 at 9:07 am
I know I fell at Broad and High on just a small patch of ice and ended up with a large goose egg on my head, bruised knee, black eye and scrapes up my nose and forehead. I found walking weeks after the snow storms very difficult.