Yeah, in downtown Ft Worth, the cops and security on bikes all ride on the sidewalk against pedestrian traffic. Downtown is probably the safest part of Ft Worth to be on the street since no one really ever gets over 20mph down there.

Like Doohickie said, understand what makes a sidewalk dangerous and evaluate each situation on its own merits. There are places where I use the sidewalk - places where there are NEVER pedestrians on them and the roadway has very fast moving traffic with no shoulder. I try to keep it to a minimum and am extra careful around driveways, parking lot entrances, etc. Assume you are invisible when you are on the sidewalk.