An intriguing post about the state of many suburban neighborhoods, and a great example of how design thinking could improve them. The neighborhood that Carl and I moved away from was nowhere near as bad as some of the examples in the post, but one reason we moved was that it was incredibly reserved, which I always found ironic and awkward given that it was designed to look like a safe, neighborly community.
We now live minutes from downtown on a grid-style block, and I’ve been almost giddy about how visible and talkative people are. The kids play in the street. Their parents gather in one driveway to chat. We almost always get stopped for a brief hello or conversation when we walk the dog. It’s technically not as safe as our old neighborhood, but I feel safer because I know who is around me and I talk to them. Makes the old neighborhood and the cul de sac approach feel like an illusion…
(re: The Great Cul-De-Sac Problem And How To Fix Alleviate It | Chris Norstrom)
