Curbside Appeal

The title of this blog is Webfoot Wanderings, but it seems like I haven't been wandering very much outside of my own town. So, I guess I'll take what I can get. 

On my Instagram account (@webfoot55), I posted a photo of an imprint that I used to see all the time growing up in Santa Ana, CA. This photo was actually taken in Claremont, CA, but it reminded me of the neighborhood where I grew up, so I took a photo of it. I also liked the fact that this particular imprint, designating when the cement for the sidewalk or curb in this case, was poured. Contractors would get some free advertising and the city would get some nice curbs and sidewalks, plus an additional bonus of some historical perspective. Kind of nice to realize this particular curb has been around since before my parents were born.

Most of these imprints seem to come in two different varieties, either stamped into the face of the curb, or stamped at the junction between two pieces of the sidewalk. I seem to remember that most of these in Santa Ana tended to be in the sidewalks as opposed to the curbs. Claremont seems to have both. It's probably more of the contractor's preference more than anything else. The one posted above is the oldest I've seen, but there's one on a sidewalk north of my house that is dated 2002, so they've been used at least in the last two decades.

As I wandered around town today, I did notice that the sidewalk version of these imprints tended to be more worn than the curbside imprints. That's pretty obvious since there's a lot more foot traffic and so erosion is going to take its toll over the course of the years. I found one in a sidewalk today dated 1947 that was very difficult to read, almost looking like 1997. That was highly improbable however, due to the age of the houses and the look of the rest of the sidewalk on either side of that particular imprint. But hopefully you can see the difference between the first two images, the first being on the side of the curb, while the second is in the sidewalk. The curb imprint appears to be in much better shape than the sidewalk imprint, which is 27 years younger. Between these two imprints were other imprints dated 1943, 1946, and 1947, showing the progress of the streets, curbs and sidewalks northward leading to Route 66 which is Foothill Blvd., in Claremont. That's a nice historical record there.

However, the historical record is slowly being wiped away by progress and government laws. Not that this is a bad thing, it's just happening. Tree roots uplift the sidewalk and sidewalks need to be replaced, or shave down. If the tree happens to uplift a section of sidewalk that the imprint is on, the imprint will either be shaved away as the city attempts to even out the pavement, or be replaced entirely by another section of pavement.

The American with Disabilities Act (ADA) has also taken a toll on these historical artifacts. This law, passed in 1990, is a civil rights law which prevents discrimination against individuals with disabilities. It's the reason we have ramps now at street corners so people in wheel chairs can traverse throughout the city in which they live without having to bump off a curb, or go down the street to the nearest driveway so they can cross the street. As you can see in the third shot, what is likely a 1926 vintage imprint was wiped out because the curbing at this point had to be lowered to accommodate wheelchair access. 

Please don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining about the ADA, I'm just noting that the law has some unintended consequences. Stuff happens. Some of these will hang around for a longer time frame, while others will disappear due to where they were placed.

Which brings me to my final thought. I seem to remember that most of the imprints in my Santa Ana neighborhood tended to be in sidewalks, but I also seem to remember them being on corners. I wonder if most of them have been wiped out because newer wheelchair accessible sidewalks have had to be built? I guess I need to head back to the old neighborhood sometime to see if those are still there.