Sidewalk Nation
The Life and Law of America's Most Overlooked Resource
Published on 2. June 2026
Book
Hardback
344 pages
978-0-674-29641-1 (ISBN)
Description
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.
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.
Reviews / Votes
By analyzing the activities on sidewalks (art, speech, protest, homelessness, play, commerce), the need for a cohesive strategy regarding sidewalks gains momentum. There are explorations of age and disability access, camera and surveillance activity, and the economic cost of improving this essential (by Pollack's definition) tool...[This book] successfully conveys the importance of sidewalks for communities. -- Tina Panik * Library Journal * 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 <i>Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World</i> 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 <i>The Unbounded Home</i> 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 <i>Mine!: How the Hidden Rules of Ownership Control Our Lives</i> 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 YorkMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge, Mass
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
27 photos
Dimensions
Height: 166 mm
Width: 244 mm
Thickness: 35 mm
Weight
680 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-674-29641-1 (9780674296411)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Michael Pollack is Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Faculty Development at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.