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Related closely to Safety is Security. Police Departments all over North America have known for decades that much crime could
be prevented with the consistent use of several well known techniques: good lighting, solid doors with deadbolt locks, alarm
systems, etc. The local building codes should require a minimum standard of security for both residential and non-residential
buildings in each village.
CRIME PREVENTION THROUGH ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN (CPTED)
Some crime prevention specialists have written guidelines called "Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design"
(CPTED). While the space here does not allow a complete discussion of the concept, the basic premise is that some neighborhoods
are much more attractive to criminals than others. There are very subtle differences between neighborhoods that the residents
and the criminals may not even recognize on a conscious level. These differences in design are beyond the traditional crime
prevention methods of locks and alarm systems.
For an example, the high crime area of a city is usually the inner city neighborhoods, not the wealthy suburban areas.
That is typical even though an expensive home has more items of value for the taking than an inner city home. There are many
reasons for this, but a major reason is that the common criminal would "feel out of place" on the quiet, well kept
suburban streets that have very little traffic.
The residents of a quiet neighborhood may keep a closer eye on a stranger and will not hesitate to call the police or
a neighborhood security patrol if they were concerned about the behavior of a stranger. The same stranger may not attract
much attention in a noisy inner city neighborhood that has a high volume of vehicular and pedestrian traffic both day and
night.
TERRITORIALITY AND NATURAL SURVEILLANCE
The TEN BLOCK VILLAGE PLAN uses short dead end streets for residential neighborhoods to deter unwanted traffic. A short,
quiet street encourages residents to develop a sense of territoriality. "Territoriality" is a feeling of ownership
in a neighborhood, one goal of CPTED.
People that move into a small neighborhood will soon recognize who belongs and who does not. Residents will normally
take a greater interest in watching out for the neighbors that they know on a quiet street than they would for anonymous strangers
on a busy street.
Some private developments require the residents to place a distinctive decal on their automobiles. A decal may help residents,
in a small way, develop a sense of community identity as well as a way to make vehicles without the decal "stand out
from the crowd".
Some TND planners take this concept a step further by designing homes with large front porches and small front yards that
encourages residents to spend time in a position where they can observe the traffic on their street without any extra effort
on their part. This is called "natural surveillance", another goal of CPTED. Residents walking in their neighborhood
are more likely to interact with their neighbors who are sitting on their porch than they would with neighbors cocooned inside
of their home.
Whether the residents will actually spend much time on a front porch may be debated. Even if they do not use their front
porch very much, I believe that residents with a small front yard will have a better view of their neighborhood from inside
their living room than residents inside a house set far back from the street.
Many residential streets in North America do NOT encourage neighbor interaction; many do not even have sidewalks. Modern
houses look deserted to drivers passing by because the kitchen and family room are located at the rear and a huge garage is
located at the front. If the residents do spend any time outdoors they are probably using a private back yard where they
are unable to watch the neighborhood.
Criminals prefer that kind of neighborhood; they like an area where they can come and go with little notice by the residents.
They prefer a neighborhood with many easy exits in the event they encounter the police or a private security patrol. The
TEN BLOCK VILLAGE PLAN is different. The PLAN creates the conditions needed for natural surveillance and the streets allow
only one exit out of a residential neighborhood by automobile.
I lived on a quiet cul-de-sac in Des Moines, Iowa for ten years. We had few strangers using the street since it was a dead
end. The relatively few cars that I did not recognize attracted my attention and I would watch them to see what they were
doing. Since we had few strangers on the street I kept a good watch on the strangers I did see to be sure that they were
not up to some kind of mischief. By contrast, when I lived on a very noisy collector street (Merle Hay Road) a few years
earlier I had quickly become oblivious to the large number of vehicles and pedestrians passing by at all hours.
ALLEYWAYS
Some communities, like Celebration, Florida, place all private garages behind the houses. The garages are only accessible
from a paved alley. The streets in Celebration are more attractive and pedestrian friendly than streets in most new subdivisions.
I have mixed feelings about alleys. The tree-lined streets in Celebration are very attractive and they do encourage the
residents to spend time on their porches and to walk the streets in their neighborhoods. The negative side is that there
is little natural surveillance in the alleys. That may not be too much of a problem for a brand new upscale community.
However, over time there may be prowlers and other criminals that take advantage of the alleys for moving about the area mostly
unseen by the residents.
An alley would be somewhat safer if there was only one way in and out for motor vehicles because criminals prefer not
to be trapped on a dead end alley. However, a dead end alley may be less convenient for the residents than a through alley.
Another idea is for the entrance to each garage to be turned 90 degrees away from the alley so the owners could watch the
entrance to their garage from their home.
I would suggest a possible compromise between using alleys to the rear of single-family homes and building large garages
in front of houses that is popular today. Many neighborhoods built in the 1950's, 1960's and 1970's have private garages
located behind the houses without alleys. Each garage in those neighborhoods is accessible only by a one-lane or maybe two-lane
private driveway from the street.
I had a two-car garage behind my house in Des Moines. The entrance to my garage was easily visible from both my house
and my neighbor's house. A strange car approaching my garage from the street on my long driveway would have been very conspicuous.
My driveway widened behind my house to accommodate the two-car garage and also provided visitor parking.
Celebration, Florida
FENCES
A developer could install attractive fences behind each house and townhouse in the village to mark property lines. Medium-height
fences will deter trespassers while still allowing residents to converse with their neighbors and keep an eye on each other's
property. A resident who sees a stranger crossing fence may feel confident enough to challenge the person verbally, or at
least call the police (territoriality). Criminals intuitively know that climbing over fences will attract unwanted attention
and that it will be hard to talk their way out of trouble if challenged.
I had low chain link fences behind my house in Des Moines and I kept my back yard well lit. I never once saw strangers
in my back yard or garage, nor had any evidence of prowlers in the ten years I lived there.
I have visited other neighborhoods that had no fences and would occasionally see people taking short cuts between the
houses. Those unwanted people may not have had any criminal intentions, but residents will feel safer and will enjoy their
privacy more if they do not see strangers behind their home.
The short dead end streets of the TEN BLOCK VILLAGE PLAN help prevent crime by encouraging both territoriality and natural
surveillance. Of course a developer should also use the traditional crime prevention methods of good lighting, strong deadbolt
locks, alarm systems, etc., to complement CPTED.
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