»Empty breath, empty mouths

I live in a densely-populated area in the middle of an incorporated city, where I pay sales tax and property tax. I want the city to maintain the road from the main street to my neighbourhood, so that I can get in and out of my neighbourhood -- presumably, to contribute to the community by working and spending and volunteering.
The city says: "Build it yourself. Or collect the money to build it, and we'll install it for you."
Well, that didn't quite happen, since cars are involved. But suggest ditto for pedestrians -- that the city maintain a pedestrian walkway in order to accomodate citizens keen on participating in their community without cars -- and bollocks to you.

The usually-noxious Chronicle Watch feature of the San Francisco Chronicle features a revealing piece about a city's priorities.

San Francisco residents who use a decaying set of stairs in the Sherwood Forest neighborhood are hoping the city will come to their rescue. The staircase - which runs the length of a passageway called Bengal Street -- provides a welcome shortcut in the hilly Mount Davidson neighborhood between Lansdale Avenue and Miraloma Drive. ChronicleWatch tipster Al Parso uses the stairs to get to his bus stop nearby, but says they are so badly deteriorated they are no longer safe. "Is there any way to get our fine city to repair this public throughway?" Parso asked ChronicleWatch. "Or is all of our maintenance reserved for automobiles to the exclusion of walkers and public transit riders?" Status: San Francisco public works spokesman Frank Lee researched the matter after our call and discovered that the property owners on either side of the stairs are responsible for maintaining them. "We don't have a record that any city agency built them," he said. However, Lee told us the stairs appear to be dangerous and said the city will close them to the public. His department will notify the property owners of their responsibility, explain the situation to nearby residents and alert Muni about the closure. Lee said his agency would be willing to build city-maintained stairs if the neighborhood wants the job done and will help raise the funds. To weigh in on the status of the Bengal Street stairs, call Lee at (415) 554-7928. -- Who's looking into it: Ed Lee, S.F.'s director of public works, (415) 554- 6920; edwin_lee@ci.sf.ca.us