GRID PATTERN STREETS

As we all know, the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Before the widespread use of the private automobile people did not want long, winding streets that ended in a cul-de-sac. They wanted to walk the shortest distance possible to their destination. The grid pattern allowed easy access in all directions -- north, south, east and west.

Cities with a rigid grid pattern have very efficient traffic patterns for both pedestrians and automobiles. The grid provides not only straight streets, but also many possible detour routes for drivers to avoid construction, accidents and rush hour traffic.

I visited San Diego and Phoenix in 2004. Both are very large cities with most of their growth occurring in the past 40 years. The Phoenix valley is flat with the major streets laid out in a rigid grid pattern. The intersections in Phoenix are spaced farther apart than they are in San Diego. Phoenix also seemed to have fewer traffic signals. I liked the fact that it did not take long for me to learn the names of the major thoroughfares in the eastern valley area where I spent most of my time. It was easy to keep my orientation even when driving on unfamiliar streets for the first time.

San Diego is a very attractive city with many desirable features. However, I found it much harder to navigate there in my car. The topology worked against having a rigid grid pattern in much of San Diego, even if the planners had ever wanted one. With hindsight, I believe the planners in San Diego could still have used some of the principals of the TEN BLOCK VILLAGE PLAN to provide a more convenient street system.

MEANDERING SUBURBAN STREET

The typical modern suburb is NOT very convenient. With its meandering streets and dead ends, most suburbs force drivers to leave their neighborhood street and use a very busy collector street when they go shopping or when commuting to work. Many collector streets are ugly, congested streets that frustrate drivers with their frequent traffic signals.

Collector streets oftentimes have no sidewalks or bike lanes. Few people walk or ride bicycles on or along these unfriendly streets. People may feel afraid when walking across five or seven lanes of traffic with cars traveling at high speeds.

The post-World War II street pattern in North American cities adds a considerable distance to the length of a driver's trip. People would have greatly resisted the meandering street patterns in modern subdivisions had the majority been forced to walk to the business or shopping areas. But for most North Americans the automobile does all of the work, not their legs.

The extra distances that people drive every day do have a hidden cost to society and to individuals. The average commute to work in North America keeps getting longer. The longer commutes causes drivers to buy more fuel, cars to create more pollution, vehicle parts to wear out sooner. Our auto-dependent lifestyle has caused residents to gain more weight from a lack of exercise.

People who live in a meandering street pattern in a sprawling suburb spend more of their free time driving place to place than they would with a well designed grid pattern in a master planned community. People detest their long commutes to work or school, and their wasted time stalled at traffic signals on congested collector streets when doing errands.

Finally, the meandering pattern that is common today does not lend itself well to pedestrians, bicycles and mass transit. A significant number of people, especially the young and the elderly, do not have private automobiles and are therefore very dependent on others for their transportation needs. Even adults who own a private car may desire more freedom of choice for their mode of transportation for themselves and their dependents.

Why did the street patterns change after World War II? One reason that the rigid grid pattern became unpopular may be that long, wide streets tend to encourage drivers to go faster than they would drive on meandering streets. Most homebuyers would prefer to live on a quiet street.

Through streets get more traffic than dead end streets as motorists from other neighborhoods use them as a shortcut to their destination.

Yet another reason the rigid grid pattern became unpopular is that some people thought that the rigid layout of streets looked boring.

The TEN BLOCK VILLAGE PLAN addresses each of those issues.