Apt. Therapy is clearly going the way of every other shelter publication that ever purported to dedicate itself to people living in small spaces (or at least in apartments).
Sad to see it go, but this article is further proof that Apt. Therapy has lost its way.

I don't see the problem. Even if you live in an apartment or tiny house you still might not want to slip on your stairs.

I don't get the problem either. My very small house still had a sidewalk and stairs, and our city's bylaw says it must be cleared, so we do indeed clear snow...

Shovelling is the easiest way to avoid salt, but sometimes freezing rain doesn't give you much of a choice.

We shovel. Using a snow blower compacts the snow and then it freezes making it more difficult to walk. Shoveling is also great exercise.

I don't see the problem either. Even people living in apartments use sidewalks and drive cars.

Definitely live in a small apartment (< 800 sq. ft. bottom floor of a house) and definitely have to shovel our own sidewalks, driveway, etc... I don't see why one should assume snow removal is restricted folks in the suburbs... Although we live in a relatively medium-ish sized city it's not like we're out in the boonies somewhere. And here in Wisconsin where we get a decent amount of snow shoveling is great exercise! We also try to avoid the salts for our pup's sake.

The law states that my landlord has 8 hours after the end of a snowfall to clear the steps and walkways. And he waits until the very last minute, as far as we can tell. If the snowfall lasts for hours, you can be sure that various tenants are out there periodically, clearing the stairs so that we can all get in and out safely.

I'm not sure if this is "green" or not.... we had 4" of ice pack on our driveway and guests were on their way over for our holiday party. My dear husband poured a little lawnmower gasoline on the ice and lit it on fire. It melted the ice away nicely.

I don't recommend trying this at home. The neighbors gave us funny looks .... I didn't know whether to say "genius!" or "you freakin' nut, stop that!"

PATMAC -- PS -- you're wrong! We have a snowblower and it's great at removing snow. Not so much packed ice, though.

Rock salt is bad for plants and surfaces? Sand can provide traction? Shovelling early and often is a good idea? Gee, who would have known?

Armed with this true wealth of serious, ground-breaking knowledge, I can, for once, go to sleep a little less stupid...

Urbancricket, about not being sure whether burning petrol on your plot is green or not...

You are burning petrol. Um, isn't that the same stuff that has been killing birds and fish, destroying fishing villages, causing environmental disasters and whose production is costing us all dearly, both environmentally and financially. How much greener can you get?

I totally understand the funny looks from neighbours. Wouldn't want to live anywhere near people whose idea of a neat and fast deicing is to intentionally create an oil spill and set it on fire, too.

BTW, melting ice outside in sub-zero conditions creates guess what! Yup, smooth, mirror-like ice, even worse than what you had before.

Sorry for potentially hurting your feelings. I was just incredibly blown away by your post, to stay polite.