Almost a month ago, Rachel* at SoHoTampa made note of the opposition to putting in some sidewalks in south Tampa neighborhoods.

The anti-sidewalk sentiment appears to be a cross-Bay phenomenon: Residents in Largo are spurning efforts by city government to sidewalk their streets.

Cited reasons against sidewalks usually emphasize the encroachment into large front yards. It’s a valid enough reason, but I have my own opinion regarding the real, less often expressed reason:

Generally, I’m in favor of more sidewalks being built around the Bay area. Sidewalks encourage pedestrian traffic, which is sorely lacking in a sprawl-based community like this. That’s the very same reason residential neighborhoods don’t want them, of course, because the implication is pedestrian=no car=poor/homeless/bum. Who wants to make it easier for bums and other shady types to make their way to your front door?

I was just in a meeting today where a recent survey about perceptions on Florida was mentioned. Among other things, a knock against most of the metro areas was a lack of cohesiveness and pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods. Rolling out sidewalks all over the place won’t completely solve this, but I think it’s a positive step.