ELISE STOLTE writes for the Edmonton Journal
Critics argue streets lined with large, front garages makes a community less friendly for pedestrians, as driveways interrupt treed boulevards and otherwise continuous sidewalks. Homes stand further back from the street, and windows are hidden by the garage walls.
I think the notion that front garages make a neighbourhood less pedestrian friendly is misguided. There are plenty of neighbourhoods with front garages. In fact, that is almost exclusively the type of housing that is being built today.
I go for walks all the time in my neighbourhood, and I don't find it inconvenient, scary, or anything else when I'm walking in front of someone's driveway. Obviously you have to remain aware for people who may back out of their driveway, but typically they are going much slower, and you have more notice than if you were crossing a road.
The other argument, of course, is that front driveways obscure the character of a house. This might be true to some extent, but then again I've even seen some pretty nice garages too. What I do find to be ugly is in the older neighbourhoods where they have detached garages behind the house, and alleyways mazing through the community, basically creating a secondary road system. Most alleyways are disgraceful. They aren't taken care of by the city as well as main roadways, and the neighbours don't care as much either. After all, it's just the back of their house. And don't forget there is a safety risk here as well. Motorists go speeding through alleyways, sometimes trying to take shortcuts, and if I'm a pedestrian walking in an alley, I had better be on the lookout.
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