The Urban Snow Hazard in the United States: An Appraisal of Disruption

T RADITIONALLY the mid-latitude American city has coped with snow and ice in an organized but inefficient manner. Even in this age of galloping technological advance, most of our northern cities annually experience the crippling impact of at least one severe snowstorm. The brunt of the disruption, ironically, occurs in areas that are "well prepared" to handle any snow emergency. The continuing trend toward urban sprawl has been a major factor in accentuating the difficulties that stem from an occasional snowstorm. Distances separating urban dwellers from their everyday affairs and transactions have lengthened, and dependence on both private and mass transportation facilities has increased. By introducing snow or ice into an urban setting with hypersensitive movement patterns, any form of chaos may be precipitated.' The present study is designed to assess the impact of snow in urban areas, using several lines of investigation. Snow's disruptive effects on man are analyzed, with an emphasis on the identification of the critical physicalenvironmental variables (amount and kind of snow, wind, temperature, terrain, and so on). Then the role of community adjustment and adaptation is examined, and, finally, attitudes concerning the snow hazard are probed, by means of interviews, to gain an understanding of the adaptations and adjustments that are characteristically made. The study focuses on seven selected cities, but the findings presumably have much wider application.