Want that small town charm for your community? Great. Good goal. But FYI – you won’t get there by slapping down some brick sidewalks and calling it a day. The buildings and how they frame the public space between them is key. Get the right set of buildings and the material of your sidewalk won’t matter.

That point in mind, I can’t get too worked up about Montgomery County’s proposal to ban brick and cobblestone sidewalks. That’s about the least important item on the list of things that actually make a difference to community character, so losing that option doesn’t hurt very much. It might even help, since communities no longer tempted into thinking brick is their panacea may instead focus on the real issues.