[Vision2020] Snow problems

[Jennifer Ingalls]

My dad told me kind of a funny sidewalk story last night. He lives off
Blaine Street in Moscow where the City seems to do a good job of plowing.
Since my dad walks or rides his bike everywhere (even during the winter), he
tends to be pretty vigilant about keeping his sidewalk shoveled. After
clearing it one day, he retreated to the house to change clothes and head to
the office. Upon returning to the outdoors, he noticed the snow plow had
made a pass--re-covering his newly cleaned sidewalk with a layer of snow.
Well, at least they keep up with plowing.

I've lived in Genesee for the past seven years and I've always been
impressed with our snow removal there. My house is midway down a hill and
I've never had a problem with it being under-plowed, etc. However, Genesee
is a fraction of the size of Moscow and since I work in Moscow, I am also
troubled by the situation.

I'm somewhat torn by the issue of vehicles capable of handling snow/weather
conditions. One the one hand, I agree with Kit that it should not be the
onus of the residents to buy SUVs in order to survive Moscow winters;
however, I admit I snicker when I see a Mazda Miata owner slide a little
just as my heart warms each time I see a girl in ridiculously high heels
totter as she negotiates terrain. This is not to say I want either to fall
or slide, rather I suppose I feel a little like my mom felt when she said "I
told you so," after I fell on the ice wearing equally silly footwear. For
the same reason, I feel no sympathy for my brother when he complained about
the price of fuel for his big red truck. 

The streets and sidewalks DO need to be maintained better. And we all need
to exercise better judgment. I must say I am glad that we don't do whatever
it was they were doing in Ohio in the mid eighties (perhaps now, I'm not
sure). Whatever they were using on the roads was causing rust and corrosion
on vehicles--thus the term "Appalachia-mobile."   

Jennifer L. Ingalls
Inland Northwest Broadcasting
PO Box 8849
Moscow, Idaho 83843
 
Office: 208.882.2551
Fax: 208.883.3571
Cell: 208.669.1713
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