[PatentPending]

The home owner is often responsible for it. Needs to keep it free of debris or snow and ice. Can be sued if he does not and someone slips and falls.

If I'm remembering my bar exam study correctly, that's not necessarily the case. Unless you're explicitly required by statute to shovel the snow, you're better off liability-wise if somebody slips and falls on an un-shoveled walk than if they do on a shoveled walk, the reasoning being that a slippery shoveled walk is a condition YOU created, instead of the "natural" state. Lawyers, go figure.

...I just shovel my walk anyway because it's the decent thing to do. Not sure if it's required.