# What happened to alleys? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 12, 2007, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-alleys/391852 "2007-02-12T15:10:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-alleys/391852/21 "2007-02-12T21:26:45Z")
Here in Vancouver BC we have alleys (AKA lanes) to spare. In fact, I’m sitting here in my 8 year old house in an 8 year old neighbourhood, looking out the back window at the 8 year old alley. I like it. The kids in the area like it as well. It often has little bike jumps, remote control car race tracks, and chalk drawings (our alley is paved). I also like the fact the fire department can easily access the front and rear of the house with their trucks. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-alleys/391852/22 "2007-02-12T22:18:03Z")
Sometimes, when we used to look for a rental home, an alley behind the home was a deal-breaker, especially when there was evidence of gang graffiti and abundant trash. Mr. brown felt that they were youth-gang attractors and made a convenient, hidden avenue from which punks could break unseen into your home. I never lived in a home with an alley, so I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![aktep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f0a364/32.png) [@aktep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aktep)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-alleys/391852/23 "2007-02-12T22:20:42Z")
It depends on where you live. In the northern suburbs of Dallas, alleys are ubiquitous in even the newest developments. Every neighborhood is like “King of the Hill”, with garages and alleys in the backs of houses. Here in Austin, only the oldest neighborhoods have alleys. I think a few newer developments (those out in the suburbs that are trying to capture that “urban feel”) have been built with alleys or something similar, but it’s not common, and in the city of Austin, it requires a zoning change. Which may be part of the issue: having or not having alleys will depend on what the market wants, the scarcity of land (why build an alley when you can sell bigger yards or cram in another house?), and zoning. The prevalence of alleys Plano, TX makes me believe that single-family zoning in Plano (and probably nearby Garland, Frisco, Allen, Murphy, etc) _requires_ alleys. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-alleys/391852/24 "2007-02-12T22:47:36Z")
[QUOTE=Lambo] When we were looking at houses, I leaned much more towards those with unattached garages on alleys, as I HATE the look of 95% of attached garages. It ruins the look of a perfectly good house. "Look at ME!! I’ve got a 2/3 CAR GARAGE and a house. [/QUOTE] Garages on the front of the house have always struck me as ugly, though I do like the convenience of having it attatched. I always said if I ever built a house, I would have the garage on one of the sides of the house or in the back. ---
**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-alleys/391852/25 "2007-02-12T22:57:24Z")
Me and my friends have jokes about “garage people”. They spend lots of time on mobile phones, alone in their huge cars, eat lots of fast food, spend all day tucked away in their work cubicle, live in suburbia, don’t really know their neighbours, etc. You might be a garage person if 95% of the time this is how your enter/exit your home. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-alleys/391852/26 "2007-02-12T23:07:04Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] Did I hear somewhere that New York doesn’t have, or maybe has very few alleys? I don’t see how a major city could function without them. [/QUOTE] The kind of alley you’re talking about is very uncommon in NYC. I know a few places in Queens with sort of an alley in the middle of the block- but they’re basically driveways used to get to the garages behind the attached houses. In fact, in Queens we use “alley” to mean something completely different - a narrow strip of land (not wide enough for a car) that runs next to a detached or semi-detached house from the backyard to the front. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-alleys/391852/27 "2007-02-12T23:09:13Z")
[QUOTE=guizot] I always thought they had alleys so you could throw the ugly, smelly, disease-causing things there, and not have to see them when you leave for work. [/QUOTE] Exactly. That’s why so many bums and drug addicts live in alleys. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-alleys/391852/28 "2007-02-13T00:45:33Z")
[QUOTE=Rigamarole] Exactly. That’s why so many bums and drug addicts live in alleys. [/QUOTE] Not where I live. They prefer my front porch. But I must say they’re very polite, and always say “good morning.” And they give me half of the proceeds they get from the recycling they take out of my bin. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-alleys/391852/29 "2007-02-13T01:31:06Z")
There was an article in the Washington Post last year about howalleys are making a comeback in new planned communities. They let service vehicles access the city plus in Washington you have alley neighbors and street neighbors. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-alleys/391852/30 "2007-02-13T03:01:04Z")
**Emilio Lizardo** : I got the article from the News Librarian from the Statesman. If you want to read it, I’ll email it to you. Just email me (it’s in my profile–yours isn’t). Anyway, here’s an excerpt: “Alleys find more allies: Developers, residents cast light on alleys. Once a standard feature, the back street is making a comeback.” BY TARA MCLAIN > [@](#): > > Once planned for every urban neighborhood, alleys fell to backdoor status > after World War II. > > Cul-de-sacs became the norm to cut down on drive-by traffic. A car-centric > America preferred garages moved to the front street and connected to the > house. Back yards became an extension of the house and were decorated with > grills, pools and playgrounds. > > There was no room for alleys. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-alleys/391852.md?page=1)