Sidewalk Nation
The Life and Law of America's Most Overlooked Resource
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Harvard University Press
Publishing:26th Jun '26
£29.95
This title is due to be published on 26th June, and will be despatched as soon as possible.
An illuminating ramble along the American sidewalk: routinely unnoticed, yet central to daily life, neighborhood vitality, and significant legal controversies.
Public infrastructure is as essential to our communities as it is easily overlooked. A case in point is the humble sidewalk: constantly taken for granted, yet linked to nearly every pressing issue of local governance in urban, suburban, and even rural areas. From commerce, taxes, and property rights to policing, homelessness, and surveillance; from free speech and socioeconomic equity to public health and climate resilience—sidewalks, surprisingly, are at the core of numerous major debates.
Sidewalk Nation offers a vivid travelogue spanning more than a dozen cities and towns across the United States to show how diverse communities are grappling with big challenges. Some are prosaic, if critical: How do we ensure that sidewalks facilitate mobility for disabled people? Whose job is it to clear snow from public space? And some touch on the most profound issues in law, including our rights under the First and Fourth Amendments. While traversing the country, Michael Pollack provides expert insight into the property, tax, and zoning laws that shape sidewalk management and land use more broadly. Offering a holistic vision for improving a vital resource, Pollack argues for reforms to ensure that local governments have both the obligation and the funding needed to give due attention to sidewalks and all that they offer.
Whether elected officials, civil servants, engineers, developers, or voters, everyone has a stake in the question of where sidewalks should be placed and how they should be used. Indeed, as Sidewalk Nation makes clear, what’s under our feet should be at the front of our minds as we decide how to build, regulate, and protect our neighborhoods.
This sweeping but commonsense treatise is sure to delight policy wonks. * Publishers Weekly *
Michael Pollack has written a wonderfully informative and intriguing investigation of the overlooked infrastructure that ties us all together. The path to a better sidewalk starts here. -- Henry Grabar, author of Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World
Sidewalk Nation delivers a brilliant and engaging exploration of the astonishingly important—yet too often ignored—infrastructure under our feet. Combining an immersive guided tour with a rich conceptual analysis, Michael Pollack reveals sidewalks to be versatile platforms for transit, speech, play, and connection, as well as vulnerable, contested sites that raise a wide range of legal and policy issues. This fascinating book will transform how we think about the sidewalks interwoven into our lives and spark interest in making these essential resources work better. -- Lee Anne Fennell, author of The Unbounded Home
Sidewalk Nation is a brilliant feat of legal imagination. And it’s a great read. From outdoor dining and public protest to policing and snow removal, Michael Pollack shows how sidewalks are vital arenas where rights and regulation are contested. As he makes clear, sidewalks matter far more for urban governance than we imagine. This is essential reading for anyone who cares about property and democracy, with an urgent and achievable vision for reform. -- Michael A. Heller, coauthor of Mine!: How the Hidden Rules of Ownership Control Our Lives
As mayor, I saw firsthand how much of civic life happens on the sidewalk—from neighbors connecting with one another to protests demanding justice. In Sidewalk Nation, Michael Pollack captures that truth beautifully, showing how something as ordinary as a stretch of pavement holds the power to transform a community. A must-read for anyone who cares about how cities really work. -- Svante Myrick, former mayor of Ithaca, New York
ISBN: 9780674296411
Dimensions: 235mm x 156mm x 24mm
Weight: 699g
344 pages