In Va., Vision of Suburbia at a Crossroads
22nd March 2009
Homeowners choose cul-de-sacs because, they say, they offer safety, security and a sense of community.
“Cul-de-sacs are the safest places in America to live,” said Mike Toalson, executive vice president of the Home Builders Association of Virginia, which opposes the new rules. “The first lots sold are often on the cul-de-sacs because they are safe.” As for developments with single entrances and exits, Toalson said, such configurations ensure that all traffic is local, neighbors watch out for each other and speeds are kept down. “Crooks look for multiple exits.”
Apparently safety, security, and a sense of community are against public policy in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Suffolk City Council member E. Dana Dickens, who is on the state panel that approved the changes, said cul-de-sac dwellers like the privacy and “fear traffic and all those types of things. But those are often the same people who also complain about paying for building capacity on the collector road if you don’t have the connectivity.”
No party affiliation listed, which means he (she?) is almost certainly a Democrat. Which isn’t surprising. State nanny knows better than the people that actually live there.
The new requirements also call for roads that are dramatically narrower, 24 feet to 29 feet wide for local streets. Now subdivision streets can be 40 feet wide — wider than three highway lanes — and cars often share the asphalt with baby carriages and joggers. Montgomery County also recently approved new rules for narrower streets. Narrower roads reduce speeds, decrease storm water runoff and save on maintenance costs, officials say.
Thereby promoting the very congestion that (in theory) they are attempting to fix. Sort of makes the rationalization rather transparent, doesn’t it?