Chicago’s first substantial snowfall of the season came on Dec. 4 and was met with the usual first-snow-of-the-season excitement—massive amounts of road salt, an onslaught of terrible driving and a swift dip in winter wonderland enchantment when the flakes stopped and bitter cold followed the next day.

As usual, sidewalks all across the city were left unshoveled. The temperature drop turned compacted snow to ice, and Chicagoans slipped and slid across sidewalks all week.

I don’t understand Chicago’s blatant disregard for proper winter sidewalk care. Surely, everyone grumbles and curses the unknown name of whoever failed to shovel his or her fair share. And yet, so many sidewalks regularly remain unshoveled.

Downtown sidewalks are always clear and salted well, but many people don’t give neighborhoods the same attention. I am tired of wearing ugly, hefty snow boots to avoid slipping one week after snowfall because others didn’t do their civic duty.

Is it laziness or wimpiness? Or perhaps it’s a “blame it on the landlord” situation? Whatever the combination of excuses might be, none makes up for creating a dangerous walk for others.

First and foremost, shoveling is required by city law. Section 10-8-180 of the Chicago Municipal Code reads: “Every owner, lessee, tenant, occupant or other person having charge of any building or lot of ground in the city abutting upon any public way or public place shall remove the snow and ice from the sidewalk in front of such building or lot of ground.”

The law says people have three hours to remove snow if it falls before 4 p.m. If it falls overnight, it needs to be removed by 10 a.m. Ice needs to be sprinkled with salt or sawdust.

Sidewalks in front of typical Chicago buildings—three flats, greystones, six units, etc.—usually aren’t more than 20 or 30 feet long. Shoveling such a small space takes 10 minutes, tops. It’s a quick, easy job neighbors appreciate, especially when it’s done promptly.

In my hometown of Milwaukee, shoveling took hours. Even with two or three people, clearing our massive driveway of snow was an all-afternoon affair. After big storms we would have piles of snow in the yard topping 8 feet high. Naturally, I am an adept builder of snow forts and a proficient shoveler who will never complain about taking care of her 25-foot long Chicago sidewalk. If it’s a particularly long snowstorm, I’ll even shovel twice.

Sometimes, my Maine-born roommate and I will go so far as to shovel a path along our neighbors’ sidewalks, for the sake of the hundreds of people who walk down our street every day to the nearby el station. Sure, it’s cold outside and our fingers and toes might be frozen and stiff, but this is Chicago. Crappy winters are kind of our thing. The weather is certainly no excuse to avoid shoveling—put on an extra pair of socks and suck it up.

But allow me to climb off my high horse to simply say I look out for the safety and convenience of myself and my neighbors. I would hate to see anyone slip because I was too lazy to properly clear off my own sidewalk.

And as the law states, shoveling and salting are not necessarily a landlord’s responsibility. In my experience, by the time someone is sent to the property to take care of the snow, it’s been trampled into a sheet of ice.  Ask the landlord to provide the salt, or maybe take a few dollars off the rent if you offer to take care of all the shoveling.

Snowy cities across the country have laws similar to Chicago’s but levy stricter repercussions for non-shoveling scofflaws. For example, Madison property owners are fined $114 for their first violation and $177 for every subsequent violation, plus the cost of a city crew coming out to remove the snow.

That’s a revenue idea I wholly support.