DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — This Daily News article talks about a shared-cost plan for sidewalk repair. The "WHA?!?" moment is at the end, when we get this gem:

This year, the City Council set aside enough money to replace 52 miles of sidewalks, but with a 4,600-mile backlog of damaged sidewalks, the average wait is about 80 years, Robertson said.

See, here's the thing: apparently the city doesn't technically own the sidewalks, so for a long time they just didn't do anything about them. They left it up to the property owners to take care of. Well, that didn't work out so well and now there's a lot to catch up on.

I've always wondered about the trees planted alongside streets. You always see the sidewalks where they've been there too long and the roots have pushed the sidewalk into all sorts of not flat shapes, but then you see streets that have been freshly landscaped with smaller trees. Do they have new ways to do it now where that same thing isn't going to happen in a couple decades?