The problem is that making my area pedestrian friendly would involve doing a lot more than just adding sidewalks.

For example, it would make much more sense to link all the cul de sacs with walking/biking paths. But to do that we’d need to bulldoze some houses, get easements from property owners, and then pay for the paths to be put in while hearing construction equipment for months.

And our local government just doesn’t have the power to do that in a reasonable amount of time, or with any guarantees of it even surviving election season.

And that’s not even talking about dealing with improving the main thoroughfare which is a state highway, meaning the local government has no say in how it’s built.

I guess what I’m saying is the big flaw with your plan is “if the government of an area was sufficiently motivated.” The way the US government is structured means you need agreement from the voters all the way to the federal government for years to do it.

I could go down to Sunbelt and get a bulldozer and start knocking houses down for bike paths today if I wanted, but that is largely frowned upon.