Favorite types of sidewalks along streets and highways

[NE2]

I like the ones with tree roots pushing up. They have character.

[Alps]

I like concrete squares with regularly spaced breaks. Asphalt is smooth at first and gets overgrown and crumbly after 3 years, because who bothers maintaining a sidewalk? Slate is an aborrence to man. Bricks are rattly. (Note that I have the perspective of a kid who grew up riding on sidewalks until age 12, per NJ law.) Tree roots are cool and funny for getting air time.

[Takumi]

Concrete with tree roots.

[bandit957]

I like them wide and smooth, because sometimes around here you have to bike on the sidewalk, because the roads are so bad.

[adventurernumber1]

I really like sidewalks that have a lot of concrete and a little bit of brick put in for decoration. Smooth for if you were to want to ride a bike or such, but with some nice brick as well.

[Mr. Matté]

Any sidewalk such that it's easy to grade at a maximum 2% cross slope so I don't go nuts trying to appease the ADA's regulations.

[Scott5114]

I really love cities that requires sidewalks to be built only when a property is improved, so that the sidewalk dead-ends it encourages users to appreciate the beauty of the vacant lot the sidewalk has brought them to. It really helps pedestrians enjoy nature.

[NE2]

I really love cities that requires sidewalks to be built only when a property is improved, so that the sidewalk dead-ends it encourages users to appreciate the beauty of the vacant lot the sidewalk has brought them to. It really helps pedestrians enjoy nature.

Yep. There's a bicycle sidepath like that in Sanford. So, along with stop signs and awkward conflicts at every driveway, you also have sandy grass in between.
http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=28.793077,-81.340177&spn=0.006704,0.012392&t=m&z=17&layer=c&cbll=28.793118,-81.340066&panoid=eHLEHTx4XL53DQ3gNSrTGA&cbp=12,219.13,,0,6.34
http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=28.808073,-81.331068&spn=0.006741,0.012392&t=m&z=17&layer=c&cbll=28.808188,-81.331065&panoid=_haEUqwfalJgVmke8e7BFQ&cbp=12,144.15,,1,5.92

[Molandfreak]

These days, the most boring and flat, the better. When I don't have a broken leg, it's a very different story...

[Tom958]

Any sidewalk such that it's easy to grade at a maximum 2% cross slope so I don't go nuts trying to appease the ADA's regulations.

Oh, wow, someone to commiserate with!

Around here, contractors will build bypasses around curb cuts, but completely ignore the grades. The sidewalk might look right from directly above, but it doesn't come anywhere near meeting standards. If my crews did that on private property, we'd have to tear it out and redo it, but contractors working for the government apparently get a pass.   

These days, the most boring and flat, the better. When I don't have a broken leg, it's a very different story...

Having spent a bit of time in a wheelchair recently, I have more respect for some regs that seemed silly before. Now, if architects and engineers would get on board... 

[Molandfreak]

Also, I have always hated when the cities half-ass the dirt on either side of sidewalks, leaving about an inch between the top of the concrete and the ground. I'm sure that's resulted in plenty of kids with scraped up arms and legs from biking.

[kkt]

I prefer concrete, in good shape. 

Seattle required sidewalks to be built as areas of the city were built up, but many areas were annexed already built on without sidewalks.  Seattle should have required the property owners to pay an assessment as a condition of joining the city so sidewalks could be built.  Walking is a lot more enjoyable when you aren't walking through mud half the time.

[Brandon]

I just prefer sidewalks, period.  If they're not there, they need to be added.  No residential area should ever be without them, IMHO.