Pavements in Sao Paulo, or the lack thereof

Being a pedestrian in Sao Paulo is a bit of a thankless task.  The city is clearly set up mostly with cars in mind.  Paulistanos love their cars.  Having said that, it's not set up particularly brilliantly for them either, but it's better than being a pedestrian.

In most cities I have known and lived in, the local government or City Municipality is responsible for maintaining pavements (sidewalks to Americans).  The local government in most cities is responsible for keeping pavements level, well-maintained, ensuring that they are accessible to the disabled, and safe to use.  Oftentimes, local government is responsible for keeping pavements gritted in cold weather to avoid accidents.  If a local government fails in this task and their negligence causes injury, they can be sued (and often are).

In Sao Paulo, this never f**king happens.  The Prefeitura (prefecture/city hall) doesn't appear to be in any way responsible for pavements.  Each individual property that opens out onto a pavement is responsible for the section of pavement directly in front of it.  Each property doesn't appear particularly responsible for keeping the pavement level, accessible, safe, or ensuring that pedestrians are able to step from one section of the pavement to the next without falling flat on their faces.  Some properties have well-maintained pavements and others clearly haven't bothered touching theirs for years.

Sao Paulo is also an extremely hilly city in parts - especially either side of Avenida Paulista (the main drag - think Oxford Street but not as obnoxious).  A lot of streets have very steep natural angles that are hard enough to deal with, never mind having to negotiate crappy pavements that go up and down without rhyme nor reason.

Paulistanas (female residents of Sao Paulo) are rather fond of high heels.  When I say "high heels", I mean the six-inch kind that could kill someone.  The fact that I have never seen a woman lose her balance or fall over in this type of footwear - given the atrociously unsafe state of the pavements in this city - never ceases to amaze me.  How the hell do they do it?  It's a major life skill - they should give lectures on the subject!

I personally have nearly lost my footing a few times, but they've always been near misses...and I wear flats...always.  As time goes on and I become more adept at moving myself efficiently around the city, my little 'trips' become more and more infrequent.

Still, some decent pavements wouldn't go amiss.