# Do you live on a busy street? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 25, 2019, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-on-a-busy-street/834508 "2019-05-25T16:38:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2019, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-on-a-busy-street/834508/21 "2019-05-26T01:35:53Z")
We are only a mile or two from downtown and right behind a supermarket so we get a fair amount of traffic even though it isn’t a main drag. There is no playing in the street; end of discussion. But we have some yards by urban standards and a back alleyway so it isn’t totally bad for kids. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2019, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-on-a-busy-street/834508/22 "2019-05-26T01:38:55Z")
No, not busy at all. However, there are a couple loud cars and trucks that come by. Occasionally a tractor or lawnmower. Today a quadbike pulling a girl in a wagon. That sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2019, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-on-a-busy-street/834508/23 "2019-05-26T02:16:17Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > I live on Halsted Street in Chicago, not too far from Wrigley Field. It’s a very busy street and even busier during Cubs home games. There is auto traffic and pedestrian traffic pretty much 24/7. I love it, I’m definitely an urban person. And, yes, I know I mentioned my actual street, but anyone who knows the area understands that there are thousands of apartments here so I’m not worried about a stalker. Oh, you live on Halsted! Up on the north side, huh? Do you know Fred? Fred McClendon? He lives near you… 🙂 I live on a busy-ish street, near an arterial that goes right through my small-ish city. Not exactly Halsted, but not exactly a dead end road either. If I want to walk around my property naked I pretty generally have to wait till about 2 am when traffic thins out. Sad! ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2019, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-on-a-busy-street/834508/24 "2019-05-26T02:23:01Z")
We live on a small residential road. We have a unit in a complex of maybe 15 town houses. That easily doubled the number of homes on the street. The road dead ends several hundred meters down so there’s no through traffic. Before our complex was built it was almost all farm houses. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2019, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-on-a-busy-street/834508/25 "2019-05-26T02:37:43Z")
I live across the street from an elementary school, and when the parents come to drop off and pick up their kids it is plenty busy. They put temporary pylons in front of the driveway into the circle to prevent left turns, and they are about to redo the intersection near me to slow down traffic. They have enough changes already that it confuses drivers and a lot fewer run the stop sign in front of our house. Non-school time it is fairly quiet, since it is not the major street through our subdivision. But when the crazies are there we try not to get out of our driveway unless absolutely necessary. ---
**Author:** ![sunstone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunstone/32/3372_2.png) [@sunstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunstone)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2019, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-on-a-busy-street/834508/26 "2019-05-26T17:55:12Z")
Cul-de-sac dweller here. Traffic is very light, and consists of the garbage truck weekly, daily visits from UPS and FedEx, once weekly lost persons looking for somewhere else, and the 8 vehicles of the residents on my short street. Pretty sweet. I can stand in the middle of the road talking with neighbors, and very rarely be interrupted by traffic. ---
**Author:** ![SkyRangerRich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@SkyRangerRich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkyRangerRich)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2019, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-on-a-busy-street/834508/27 "2019-05-26T18:59:31Z")
Live on a little road which isn’t quite a dead end, but turns into a little dirt track at the end. We’re the first of 3 house on the road. We get very little traffic, but being in a popular national park (Peak District UK) we get a lot of dog walkers and hikers. ---
**Author:** ![Anamorphic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anamorphic/32/3057_2.png) [@Anamorphic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anamorphic)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2019, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-on-a-busy-street/834508/28 "2019-05-26T19:12:50Z")
Not really, no. The stairs where Laurel & Hardy filmed “The Music Box” is on my block, so we get a small amount of foot traffic of people coming by to look/climb those, but it’s still a pretty sleepy street. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2019, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-on-a-busy-street/834508/29 "2019-05-26T19:32:34Z")
> [@seal\_cleaner](#): > > Cul-de-sac about 100 yards from and interstate. Very little traffic. Great place to raise kids. > [@sunstone](#): > > Cul-de-sac dweller here. Traffic is very light, and consists of the garbage truck weekly, daily visits from UPS and FedEx, once weekly lost persons looking for somewhere else, and the 8 vehicles of the residents on my short street. > > Pretty sweet. I can stand in the middle of the road talking with neighbors, and very rarely be interrupted by traffic. Not saying this applies to you two, but it is interesting to note that several studies have shown that cul de sacs are significantly more dangerous than traditional suburban streets for a variety of reasons. Here is one [link](https://usa.streetsblog.org/2011/06/07/cul-de-sacs-are-killing-us-public-safety-lessons-from-suburbia/) mmm ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2019, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-on-a-busy-street/834508/30 "2019-05-26T21:11:47Z")
It’s busy in the morning with cut-through traffic going to work. There is a bridge over the river about 10 blocks from us, and the street leading to it is jammed every morning, going back at least a mile. So traffic approaching from either side cuts through the neighborhood and then tries to jam itself into the stream closer to the bridge. I’d be surprised if there haven’t been fights over the whole mess. Were it me, I’d leave for work by 0630 to avoid it. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2019, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-on-a-busy-street/834508/31 "2019-05-26T21:24:05Z")
I live in a dense urban neighborhood on the north side of Chicago. My street is not an arterial one, but commuters have figured out that it is one of the few streets that will take you north from downtown with hardly any lights or other interruptions. So at rush hour, yeah, it gets mighty busy. There is also a fire station one block south of me and a hospital one block north of me, so there are plenty of sirens going off all day and night. Good thing I thrive on noise, or I would never be able to sleep. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2019, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-on-a-busy-street/834508/32 "2019-05-26T21:50:02Z")
We live on a short cul-de-sac off a loop road in a woodsy residential area on the very edge of a middle sized city. No one comes here unless they live here, so light traffic. It’s quite hilly, too, so very little foot traffic. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-on-a-busy-street/834508/33 "2019-05-28T14:07:23Z")
Main street that connects two other main streets in the town, and I live right opposite a city park. I like it, especially when I have to walk home from the bus stop after dark. ---
**Author:** ![MeanJoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanjoe/32/5693_2.png) [@MeanJoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanJoe)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-on-a-busy-street/834508/34 "2019-05-28T17:01:26Z")
Yes, we live in a historic neighborhood immediately adjacent to our downtown area. We are in a residential neighborhood and on the corner of two roads; one is one-way north and south with a bicycle lane the other is two way east and west. One is a main thoroughfare’s for traffic moving between major roads (5 lane streets) to the north and south of our area, the other is the main road through our neighborhood. Lucky for us (sarcasm) the north and south road it is also the main route for Fire/EMS so we also get frequent firetrucks and ambulances with sirens. It really is not a problem for us. We knew this moving in and it is a part of living in/near a downtown metro area. As a result our daughters (4 years old and 10 months old) sleep through noises without an issue. Our backyard has a privacy fence and landscaping to provide screens and privacy although vehicular noise is still there. Our side yard and front yard are open so when we do work in the yard and our 4-year old daughter is with us I am hyper-vigilant that she stays in the grass and doesn’t go onto the sidewalk. That’s probably a bit of an overreaction but it’s not a burden to instill in her awareness of the busy street. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-on-a-busy-street/834508/35 "2019-05-28T17:20:46Z")
Yes. My neighborhood is outlined by four major roads, and my street is the only one that goes all the way through from the West side to the East side (where the highway ramp is). ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-on-a-busy-street/834508/36 "2019-05-28T19:31:32Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Not saying this applies to you two, but it is interesting to note that several studies have shown that cul de sacs are significantly more dangerous than traditional suburban streets for a variety of reasons. > > Here is one [link](https://usa.streetsblog.org/2011/06/07/cul-de-sacs-are-killing-us-public-safety-lessons-from-suburbia/) That isn’t a study, it’s just an article that makes that assertion about cul-de-sacs without evidence. I find that conclusion hard to fathom, and I have yet to find a definitive study on it. Instead I find mysterious statements like this: “A lot of people feel that they want to live in a cul-de-sac, they feel like it’s a safer place to be,” Marshall says. “The reality is yes, you’re safer – if you never leave your cul-de-sac. But if you actually move around town like a normal person, your town as a whole is much more dangerous.” [https://www.citylab.com/design/2011/09/street-grids/124/](https://www.citylab.com/design/2011/09/street-grids/124/) The best interpretation I can come up with is, not that cul-de-sacs are in any way dangerous, but that neighborhood plans that have a lot of them tend to make both walking and driving distances longer, and funnel more traffic onto fewer through roads, thus purportedly increasing the risk of accidents. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-on-a-busy-street/834508/37 "2019-05-28T20:31:10Z")
I live across the street from a school, so when school is in session it gets somewhat busy. During non-school times it’s a fairly quiet residential street. But it is a through street, so it’s not super quiet like a cul-de-sac would be. I’d estimate maybe one car every couple of minutes drives past my house outside of the busy school drop off /pick up times. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-on-a-busy-street/834508/38 "2019-05-28T20:35:15Z")
For a while we lived on a untrafficked street but nestled a block away from the intersection of a major freeway and major expressway (I-280 and Lawrence in Silicon Valley). The noise was a tolerable hum, but the big thing was the black road dust. Just about every horizontal surface close to a window got coated, probably our lungs too. Now we’re on a fairly dense suburban street but it gets no direct traffic because it’s only one block long. We do get little league flash mob traffic nearby. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2019, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-on-a-busy-street/834508/39 "2019-05-29T03:45:55Z")
I live on a private loop road about quarter of a mile long with three homes on it just off a major route through NH. Despite the proximity to a fairly busy highway I see other cars on our road at the same time as I am perhaps 15 times a year. Half of these times it’s because people don’t realize there are houses on the road and have parked _in the middle_ of our road to go fishing on the other side of the highway. Why they can’t pull off to the side, I don’t know. Even if you can’t see the two of houses from the foot of the driveways, the cluster of mailboxes should be a clue it’s not a rest stop…but somehow people say “I didn’t know people lived on this road!” all of the time. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2019, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-on-a-busy-street/834508/40 "2019-05-29T11:31:56Z")
My road is fairly busy. It serves as one of a few E-W connectors between major N-S roads, and services both a school and town park. Thankfully, there’s a stop sign at each major intersection, so traffic doesn’t travel too fast. Gets a bit backed up at pickup/dropoff times for the school, and the streets are lined with parked cars when a game is played at the park. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-on-a-busy-street/834508.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-on-a-busy-street/834508.md?page=3)