The list: Pick up trash and shovel snow in front of my home

A couple of weeks ago, when the first snow of the season fell in Chicago (yes, in mid-October), I remarked to my fiancee and roommate, "I think we're going to have to buy shovels this year." We've lived in Chicago for four winters, and at each of our three apartments, we've contributed to clearing the sidewalks and parking spaces out front. However, we've always used borrowed tools. Last year, our neighbors in the coachhouse behind our five-unit apartment building had two shovels; they kept them in the foyer for communal use. At the last place, our landlord provided the shovels, and we provided the muscle. And at our first apartment in Chicago, our contribution was a bit less direct, but I like to think just as important: when our upstairs neighbors shoveled the sidewalk with the shovels they kept in the locked garage (for which we didn't have a key), we made them cookies.

Unfortunately, our coachhouse neighbors were evicted awhile back because the building owner plans to raze the home for parking, after she turns our apartments into condominiums. So there went our lovely neighbors and their multitude of pets, as well as their shovels. Now we're wondering: if we buy shovels to clear the sidewalk, will our landlord reimburse us? One would think it would be in his interest to do so. If anyone knows, I'd love an answer (especially since getting our landlord on the phone isn't always the easiest task.)