While November and early-December were quite cold and windy in this winter season, much of January has been warmer than average and fairly pleasant. With rain forecast for the coming weekend, the snow that remains from last weekend's storm will have a chance to melt.
A couple of nights ago, I walked a couple of blocks, to Amigo's Market in Hartford's West End, to pick up a few items. Repeating a pattern that has been in places for years now, all of the sidewalks on Farmington Avenue between Tremont Street and Evergreen Avenue were shoveled, except for the area in front of two cafes.
Even though I worked as a cook at one of the eateries for quite a while, and they have exhibited my paintings numerous times, I feel strongly that every business is responsible for removing snow from the public sidewalks. By not removing the snow, the cafe is creating a dangerous situation for local residents, as well as for its customers.
The owner of one of the cafes is a decent guy who is largely community-minded. Because he is so busy running several different eateries, my guess is that he is probably unaware of the snowy sidewalk situation. The newer restaurant, I know nothing about.
I'd bet money that these businesses could get their sidewalks shoveled if they put just a little bit of effort into it. They could either hire a contractor, have some of their employees do it, or hire local residents to shovel.
There are lots of responsibilities associated with operating a business. When a business operates in an area that experiences shovelable amounts of snow each year, they really should have some sort of snow-removal policy in place. It's simply the right thing to do.
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