Cities want fewer cul-de-sac streets

By Kristen Comer ~ The Associated Press

MASON, Ohio -- Jenny and Rick White enjoy living on their cozy cul-de-sac, where traffic is light and neighbors are friendly.

"There are a lot of advantages," she said. "It's safer for kids because people don't drive as fast and we know everyone who lives on this street."

People cherish the privacy and peace of mind they get from living on suburban dead-end streets. Children can play basketball and ride their bicycles without worrying about heavy traffic. Usually, the people driving by belong here and often meet for block parties or barbecues.

Because so few vehicles travel streets with no outlet, residents say they are free from noise and heavy exhaust fumes.

But the suburban oasis creates traffic gridlock for others, elsewhere, transportation experts say. And that is one reason planners are starting to return to traditional developments reminiscent of neighborhoods in the early 1900s: smaller lots on straight streets in a grid pattern.

Steven Bodzin, spokesman for San Francisco-based Congress for the New Urbanism, said there are about 250 grid-pattern developments around the country, with hundreds more being planned.

"We see a higher level of devotion to the towns and a better sense of community," he said. "I think people are missing that in conventional suburbia."

Planners say dead-end streets, which sometimes don't have sidewalks, also can discourage social interaction, isolating residents.

"Virtually every trip involves getting in the car, even to get a gallon of milk or a loaf of bread," said Greg Dale, a Cincinnati-based urban planning consultant who has worked with communities across the country.

"People used to be able to walk to the corner store. Too many cul-de-sacs can create isolation between neighborhoods. There's a sense of community that's lost."

Ninety-five percent of 120 subdivisions being built outside Cincinnati in southwest Ohio's Warren County, where the Whites live, include cul-de-sacs. The area, once more rural than suburban, is fast becoming densely developed and populated.

Roger Young settled on one of the dead-end streets two years ago, with his wife and three daughters. Safety was a major reason.

"There's a lot of trust between neighbors, a real neighborhood feeling," he said. "We have Fourth of July parties and block parties in the summer. If you're teaching your kids to ride their bikes or sending them out to play, you don't worry at all."

But county engineer Neil Tunison said the few main streets serving these subdivisions often become clogged with traffic and can create safety problems.

"We're seeing a lot of backups, delays and congestion," he said. "We've got large subdivisions that have only one access road. That becomes a choke point if you need to evacuate people. It makes it difficult for fire departments to respond to calls."

Bodzin said the neighborhoods also discourage racial and economic diversity.

"In these developments, you usually have one culture, people of the same economic class," he said. "Studies have shown they have less interest in their community and belong to fewer social clubs. Everyone tends to do their own thing instead."

French for "bottom of a sack," the cul-de-sac has been around for hundreds of years but did not become popular in the United States until the mid-1950s.

Radburn, N.J., was one of the first cities to use no-outlet streets, said Jeff Spech, an urban planner and co-author of the book "Suburban Nation."

"The idea was to separate cars from pedestrians," he said. "Developers saw that people liked them, so they started building whole developments of them."

Bodzin said the new movement of returning to grid-patterned communities started with Seaside, a 1981 development near Panama City, Fla.

Seaside has a town green and retail shops within walking distance of homes.

Developers around the country, including some in Maryland, Tennessee, Texas, Arizona and Colorado, have followed suit. Change has been slower in midwest communities with few new developments, Bodzin said.

But other developers say families still find cul-de-sacs the most desirable. Jim Obert, planning director for Great Traditions Land & Development Co. in Cincinnati, said developers get higher prices for homes and lots on dead-end streets.

"That's absolutely a selling point," he said. "It's perceived to be safe for kids, and that's what most people look for. We respond to demand."

The Whites, who have a son in high school and daughter in middle school, admit their are some drawbacks to living on a cul-de-sac.

"In the winter, we're about the last street to get the snow cleared," said Jenny White.