Submitted by Lorianne, Dec 21, 2007 13:56

I too think alleys are a trumped up trendy idea. They don't make sense on a number of levels (including , now that you bring it up, snow).

It seems to me alleys + streets just adds twice the impervious surface and that much more infrastructure specifically installed for cars. Alleys seem MORE car-centric to me than simply having one street to serve houses.

There are also a lot of social problems and home design problems with alleys.

I wish New Urbanists weren't so enthralled with the concept of alleys. I know they don't advocate them exclusively, but they do push them heavily. They seem rather faddish to me, and not practical when you get down to it (and I've lived in alley neighborhoods and non-alley REAL traditional neighborhoods).

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