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The biggest issue with cul-de-sacs if the amount of stress they put on the main roads that connect them to the "outside world". Many have 1 entrance so the road takes a huge amount of traffic. Cul-de-sacs also make it more difficult for emergency services to navigate. What might be a 3 minute ride from a first responder ambulance based on a standard grid pattern might double because the roads within the cul-de-sac are inefficiently designed. When you have a serious medical problem those minutes matter.
Also children are more likely to get hit by a car that their own parents are driving because of the false sense of security the dead end street provides (a normal flow street forces you to pay attention).
Though it's not for me, I can see the appeal. I think that front porches and plenty of walkable local "institutions" are better for community building (parks, pools, sports facilities, playgrounds, schools, library, coffee shop, neighborhood bar, etc.) .
Neighborhood bar
Anyway, you can still have parks and playgrounds in communities with cul-de-sacs!
It's funny how two people with the same goal of safety can come to completely different, yet equally valid conclusions. Cul-de-sacs are usually found in the most car centric suburbs and exurbs. I'd much rather live in a less car centric place and limit the amount of time my family and I are spending in vehicles. Car accidents are the number one cause of death in kids.
I view safety in and around the yard and residential streets as something kids have much more control over. You can teach them to look before crossing or not to chase after a rolling ball. There's nothing a kid sitting in a car can do to avoid an accident.
So, you would rather live in a city like downtown Chicago or NYC? I think a suburb is actually safer for kids, but just my honest opinion!
I live in The Hammocks (SW Miami) Area with 7 Lakes, Parks, Joging Trails and 3 Pools to enjoy just about 10 months a year.
I happen to also live in a Cul de Sac and it's great. Super quiet 24 hrs a day and then IF someone happens to get off the Community Program, we have 24 hrs Security and all we do is call them and peace and quiet is restored in a haste.
We have a front and a backyard and we have lived in the same home now for over 18 yrs.
I rather live in a no end circle, with very limited traffic and the green Areas we enjoy so much, than in an Apartment 10 floors up overlooking more buildings around me.
We have a bacteria problem at our beach after nearly every heavy rain because of all the crap that flows downhill to us from outside the town.
That is because of all the towns and cities in the Chesapeake drainage area that had sewage overflow situations because they still have combined stormwater & Sewage systems or they haven't kept up with their inflow & Infiltration (I&I) mitigation plans. Our town is doing our best (and I think we do pretty good, with a 5 year I&I inspection cycle) but even we got caught with issues we had to report to MDE this year. All the rain this year has been a problem. On the plus side our springs are at the highest rate (almost full flow) I have ever seen in the middle of summer!
And I know I'm not telling you anything you don't know. But others here might not.
Downtown Chicago and NYC vs. a cul de sac. 10-story apartment vs. cul de sac.
This forum is just too much, man. Everything is either Manhattan or Pleasantville. If a lot of the posters on this forum actually represented reality, the only two housing choices in America would be a house in a cul de sac with nothing to walk to besides other houses OR a one room apartment in a 50 story tenement building plopped in the middle of Times Square.
That is because of all the towns and cities in the Chesapeake drainage area that had sewage overflow situations because they still have combined stormwater & Sewage systems or they haven't kept up with their inflow & Infiltration (I&I) mitigation plans. Our town is doing our best (and I think we do pretty good, with a 5 year I&I inspection cycle) but even we got caught with issues we had to report to MDE this year. All the rain this year has been a problem. On the plus side our springs are at the highest rate (almost full flow) I have ever seen in the middle of summer!
And I know I'm not telling you anything you don't know. But others here might not.
Our bacteria problem is more localized right after a heavy rain. When houses were built outside town limits starting 30 years ago (replacing mostly trees) the County's stormwater management plan was "let the Town deal with it".
Since I've been involved so long and know the background there is one particular Town official who gets upset when I relate that since he was the then County Commissioner who said it at a meeting. Good times.
Our bacteria problem is more localized right after a heavy rain. When houses were built outside town limits starting 30 years ago (replacing mostly trees) the County's stormwater management plan was "let the Town deal with it".
Since I've been involved so long and know the background there is one particular Town official who gets upset when I relate that since he was the then County Commissioner who said it at a meeting. Good times.
Yea, long memories can be why 'Payback is a B%%tch :-)
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