Consider reading Art of (Urban) Cycling : a guide to bicycling in 21st-century America by Robert Hurst. Find it on the shelf at your library at 796.6 HUR. It's accessibly-written with helpful illustrations. It focuses on pragmatic (as opposed to dogmatic) solutions to everyday matters, including how to choose between sidewalk and street.
This is a great book to actually buy. I find myself re-reading from time to time... kind of a refresher.
[Edit; just checking its publication date, 2004. It's still in print and copies available.]