More green is not always good

There's been road construction on my way to work over the past few months - there were some small sinkholes (Florida = swamp) that were filled in, which promptly collapsed again and were clumsily patched, then the entire road surface, curb and sidewalk were replaced along a 100 foot long stretch of road.

Great!

What's not great is for some reason, the builders saw fit to put a 1-foot-wide strip of grass between the curb and the sidewalk, which does nothing but look shabby and require constant maintenance. (Requires, not 'receives')


I'm not expecting marble tile or anything, but would another 12 inches of sidewalk been so difficult to accomplish? Hell you can even paint the cement green if you like. Astroturf, anything - but why add another 100 feet that need mowing or edging?