# What do you look for in a neighborhood?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-look-for-in-a-neighborhood/534358>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [March 30, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-look-for-in-a-neighborhood/534358 "2010-03-30T18:24:50Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\
**Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-look-for-in-a-neighborhood/534358/41 "2010-04-05T15:44:19Z")

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Missed these:

> [@antechinus](#):
>
> There are a lot of replies about “walkability”. I don’t get this. What is to stop you walking anywhere?

Walkability is not \*just \*about infrastructure–it’s also about what’s \*available \*within walking distance. It doesn’t matter how nice the sidewalks are if the nearest things to walk to are three or four miles away.

> [@antechinus](#):
>
> If there are no footpaths/sidewalks installed, why not just walk on the grass/dirt where the sidewalk would otherwise be?

1.) If it’s raining or has recently rained, it can get really gooey/muddy.  
2.) In the winter, grass doesn’t get shoveled.  
3.) If enough people walk along the grass, it won’t be grass anymore. It will be dirt. Which will further exacerbate problem #1, and the people who own the property probably won’t be too happy with it, either.  
4.) A neighborhood with no sidewalks is a neighborhood that expects most of its residents to own cars. That means (a) probably less access to public transportation and (b) fewer good things in easy walking distance.

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**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\
**Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-look-for-in-a-neighborhood/534358/42 "2010-04-05T16:35:29Z")

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I want to know…  
[ul]  
[li] if there are both public and private (in my case Catholic) schools within walking distance[/li][li]churches in the neighborhood[/li][li]traffic patterns - I want to be a least 3 blocks away from any busy street[/li][li]I want homes with a large backyard and a driveway - this seems unusually rare in my town[/li][/ul]

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**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\
**Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-look-for-in-a-neighborhood/534358/43 "2010-04-05T16:51:05Z")

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> [@antechinus](#):
>
> If there are no footpaths/sidewalks installed, why not just walk on the grass/dirt where the sidewalk would otherwise be? It would be a problem with prams, but not walking.

> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#):
>
> 1.) If it’s raining or has recently rained, it can get really gooey/muddy.  
> 2.) In the winter, grass doesn’t get shoveled.  
> 3.) If enough people walk along the grass, it won’t be grass anymore. It will be dirt. Which will further exacerbate problem #1, and the people who own the property probably won’t be too happy with it, either.  
> 4.) A neighborhood with no sidewalks is a neighborhood that expects most of its residents to own cars. That means (a) probably less access to public transportation and (b) fewer good things in easy walking distance.

Also if like me you use a cart to take your groceries home it’s very difficult, if not impossible, to pull your loaded cart over uneven ground. If the grass isn’t kept short, which it usually isn’t, then you might as well walk in the road.

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