Sidewalk closed

    As I have mentioned, there is a lot a lot a lot of construction going on around here. In practically every case, such construction means that the sidewalk is closed. Even though I don't do as much city walking as I used to, particularly in July, this strikes me as-- I guess "unfortunate" is as good a word as any. I was all set up to get up in arms: "New York has construction going on all the time and they manage to keep sidewalks open!" But then New York, or anyway Manhattan, has a lot more pedestrian traffic, is a lot less sunny and a good deal less hot, and is built for mixed use so people can actually go a block from their homes to get groceries or run other errands. Columbia isn't set up like that, so generally the people on sidewalks either want to be or have no choice.
    Still, there's one spot that makes me crazy. They're putting up-- what else?-- student housing on the other side of the river on Knox Abbott Drive. The sidewalk is closed. There are signs on this side of the bridge saying that the sidewalk is closed ahead, a mile or more away. Blossom Street (Knox Abbott on this side of the river) is crazy dangerous to cross. I think they could have either made a NY-style pedestrian tunnel for the sidewalk or made the developer make do with a six-foot setback. People do actually use that sidewalk (hey, it's cool to walk or jog over a bridge) and it would be nice if authorities once in a while seemed to care more about their actual people than their developers.