Cul-de-sacs, roads and more

Posted on June 8, 2006 by Jim Duncan

I have been meaning to write about this article in the WSJ concerning the planning perils of cul-de-sacs; I started a post on the 5th and then Jonathan Miller at Matrix beat me to it. For some local context, read Charlottesville Tomorrow’s post last year.

For many families, cul-de-sac living represents the epitome of suburban bliss: a traffic-free play zone for children, a ready roster of neighbors with extra gas for the lawnmower and a communal gathering space for sharing gin and tonics. But thanks to a growing chorus of critics, ranging from city planners and traffic engineers to snowplow drivers, hundreds of local governments … have passed zoning ordinances to limit cul-de-sacs or even ban them in the future.
…
For all the criticism aimed at them, cul-de-sacs do seem to have one last defender: the free market.

In short, planners don’t like them, but the buyers do. Where does one find the compromise?

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About Jim Duncan

A Charlottesville Realtor who tries to stay on the bleeding/cutting/functional edge of technology and real estate trends. I have been selling real estate for the past 10 years, lived in C'Ville for twenty+ and am married to one of few Charlottesville natives left.
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  • Ray Hyde

    I wonder how many planners live on cul-de sacs?

  • http://www.realcentralva.com Jim Duncan

    Ha!

  • JF

    “In short, planners don’t like them, but the buyers do.”….this should read “planners don’t like them, but DEVELOPERS do.”

    Homebuyers don’t seem to have a choice. There isn’t a large development in Albemarle that isn’t dominated by cul-de-sacs. It’s funny how developers claim that by building them, they’re only responding to market demand for cul-de-sacs…..no wonder….there’s nothing else to choose from! Jim, this logic is so rediculously self-fulfilling, it’s comical….

  • http://www.realcentralva.com Jim Duncan

    JF –

    I have to agree with you to a certain degree regarding the circuitous logic of it all. A clear majority of my clients would rather live on a cul-de-sac than not – for all the reasons highlighted above. So long as those properties with the cul-de-sac location bring more than those not on cul-de-sacs, then there will be a premium for those properties.

    Developers will build what they can sell (the last 5 years being somewhat of an exception). If nobody was buying them, logic dictates that developers would change their product.

  • UVA08

    Speaking of development…. there appears to be some movement over at the Albemarle Place site. I notice them clearing trees today on the way to work. Have they been approved yet? or just very close? I guess to be on topic it will be a development that lacks the traditional suburban cul de sac

  • JF

    Jim
    I understand your point about your clients prefering cul-de-sacs but, I would wager that city/non-cul-de-sac neighborhoods have increased in value faster and more than cul-de-sac neighborhoods in this area. The fact remains that developers have not provided buyers of new (or relatively new) homes a choice. Claiming that a preference for cul-de-sacs has been expressed by consumers when only cul-de-sacs are offered is no different than having a taste test between Coke and Coke and then claiming that people prefer Coke. Your point that “if nobody buys them…developers would change their product,” is also a bit disingenuous. Where else is a family going to live when they don’t have a choice…?

  • Ray Hyde

    I seem to recall seeing somewhere that a cul-de-sac layout can enerates more lots in a development for the same street area than a grid. Anybody know if this is true? It seems to make sense. You get three or four houses around the end of the circle where you would otherwise have an intesection.

  • JF

    I don’t think that’s true. Generally speaking cul-de-sac developments have larger lots, from 1/2 acre to 2+ acres in size. I live in a grid layout neighborhood (Belmont), and most of the lots on my block are roughly 1/10th of an acre…..So, from a sheer land efficiency standpoint, a gridded street layout makes more sense.