In the 1930s, The Federal Housing Authority embraced the trend towards cul-de-sacs, decrying the standard street grid as monotonous and unsafe. Norman Garrick and Wesley Marshall have proven otherwise.
Garrick and Marshall's research shows that yes, the person living on the cul-de-sac is safer - if they never leave their block. But the suburban road structure that makes cul-de-sacs possible is more dangerous than a grid.
Emily Badger talked with Garrick and Marshall, as well as Scott Bernstein of the Center for Neighborhood Technology:
"Garrick and Marshall compiled data on 230,000 crashes spanning 11 years in 24 medium-sized California cities. And they began to parse and classify street patterns in a kind of taxonomy."
"In their California study, Garrick and Marshall eventually realized the safest cities had an element in common: They were all incorporated before 1930. Something about the way they were designed made them safer."
Read the full story: Debunking the Cul-de-Sac
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City of Wisconsin Rapids
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
KFH Group Inc.
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello