Residential streets are too wide. Here's why.

In many places in the United States, residential streets were as wide as busy city streets. I understand why urban streets might need to be wide - parking, buses, traffic, and bike lanes all need the room. But why do quiet residential streets need to be so wide? Why do they need parking when all of the houses on the streets have garages and driveways? Why do they need wide lanes when most of the traffic is just cars and minivans? Why are we building residential streets as wide as big city streets?
Resources on this topic:
I based this video on my Master's thesis, which my advisor and I turned into a book chapter. You can buy the book, Retrofitting Sprawl, on Amazon:
www.amazon.com/gp/product/082...
Video sources:
- Videoblocks.com
Photo sources:
- AASHTO
- Blake Wheeler (via Unsplash.com)
- Drew DeVitis psudelft2015drewdevitis.wordp...
- Google Maps
- NASA
- Wikimedia Commons
Filmed in sunny Sacramento, California.

[@pabloaguilar578]

So sick of seeing people who've only ever lived their whole lives in the suburbs talk about how "Americans prefer the suburbs because they're better."

[@mimori8]

it's just the "this is normal to me so if anyone says it can be better i'll act defensively" phase anyone goes through before seeing reason

[@jukio02]

Yup, exactly. Americans don't know better because they haven't experienced a better way.

[@EricJCaraballoso]

@@jukio02 there's literally no option other than driving to get most places in most neighborhoods. the car centric design is a self fulfilling prophecy.

[@machtmann2881]

@@jukio02 or worse, we do see better but refuse to learn from it. There's a reason so many Americans are romanticized by Europe after going there on vacation. It's not just because of the castles and tourist attractions. It's because so many cities and towns are walkable and human-sized. But apparently we can never build that here? It's really odd that walkability is only for tourism destinations in American minds.

[@andrewl.9736]

There are pros and cons to both cities and suburbs and they apply to completely different people. Cities allow for dense housing, convinence, walkable places, public transit, etc. while suburbs allow for spacious yards, privacy, wooded areas, quietness, etc. Of course suburbanites will defend suburbs because you will never get what suburbs offer in a city, and vice versa. From the suburbanite's perspective, why would someone accustomed to 1 acre of land with trees, a private pool, space to park the boat and RV, space for the dog to play, and a house with 4 bedrooms suddenly up and move to a cramped apartment with no yard space, no trees, a disgusting public pool (that most likely includes a fee), and the need to rent storage space for anything that doesn't fit in the closet?

[@microbios8586]

Street diets are a delight. Taking away lanes and adding trees do wonders. My street did this. I love it.

[@hologrampizza5432]

I think that my early 1900s neighborhood strikes a pretty good balance. It has mid-sized streets with street parking on one side only. Due to its age the streets are not on a perfect grid, and the sidewalks are lined with old trees. This gives the entire neighborhood a cozy feel, and encourages careful driving.

[@IbeatHalo1onLegendary]

Why are there so many dislikes? I never imagined Street width could be such a heated topic

[@vietle8157]

Sort the comments by new, people like things the way they are

[@UzumakiNaruto_]

Because people like cars and driving and in many cases trying to reduce their use is very difficult if not impossible. Also narrowing streets in any place that has significant snowfall? Minus well shutdown the city after every major snow storm then because between people shovelling snow and snow plows clearing the roads, the amount of piled up snow will take up practically all the road space meaning no one will be able to move anywhere.

[@Codraroll]

@@UzumakiNaruto_ Trust me, snow is not a problem. Here in Norway, streets in residential areas have a paved area about 5.5 - 6 meters wide - or ~18 footsies for you Americans - and we get snow by the droves every winter. It's just piled up to the side, although sometimes it makes sidewalks unusable. Building the streets 36 feet wide - that's 12 meters - sounds laughably excessive. That's the width of a two-lane highway.

[@UzumakiNaruto_]

@@Codraroll I live in Toronto and here we don't have superwide residential roads unless maybe its a newer subdivision. If there are cars parked on both sides of the street you have about 1 1/2 car spaces for vehicles to pass which of course means one person has to wait for the other to pass. It doesn't happen very often, but usually once or twice a winter we have one big snowfall and residential roads narrow alot, especially the closer to get towards downtown which is of course the oldest parts of the city. For me I'm not in favor of superwide residential roads, but I am for them to be wide enough that you can comfortably fit two cars passing each other with one side of the road for street parking and it would be even better if newer subdivisions would have built in roundabouts to move traffic better.

[@Codraroll]

@@UzumakiNaruto_ I guess it depends on the level of thoroughfare traffic. Here, it's common only to park cars on one side of the road and keep the other lane open for cars to pass. It means someone will have to wait when two cars meet, but it doesn't happen as often. Most people walk or take public transport to work anyway, so it's not like the residential areas empty of cars in the middle of the day.

[@eruno_]

The first thing I noticed in US is that all things are so big compared to Europe and Asia from the food portions, cars, roads to buildings.

[@90AlmostFamous]

コイノ/ Koino people

[@roy_hks]

コイノ/ Koino Not food portions lol

[@DiabolikSilhouette]

We like'em big round hea. Hahaha

[@unadvanced3910]

It's because the United States has the luxury of having the space available. Europe and some of Asia is extremely dense and were platted before the existence of cars or horse wagons.

[@CalvinHodgson]

Dongs?

[@kyliejenner6059]

In Italy much streets aren’t even wide enough for two cars 😂

[@ajhare2]

Thats because most of the streets were laid out in the roman era when everyone walked lol

[@petterbirgersson4489]

A good reason to make a transition to bike traffic in European city centers, like in the Netherlands.

[@timothyhubert2305]

In Depok, Jakarta's satellite city you can find 4 lane streets for residential areas and nearly* 2 lane roads for main streets, as there is no standards

[@michaelemouse1]

On a low density residential street, you don't even need two lanes. You could make do with a one way lane that connects to a bigger two way street.

[@AdmiralBonetoPick]

Vespas!

[@FPOAK]

Plus housing prices directly correlate with street width, which is to say that most people want to live on slow human-scale streets. If people are asked about their preferences on a survey they will say their top road priorities are fast speeds and minimized congestion but if you show them pictures and ask which neighborhood they’d rather live in, or look at their revealed preferences through housing prices, it’s pretty clear people prefer roads that are much narrower than what are being built most places.

[@e7venjedi]

hehe that's an awesome point about surveys being biased because of how they're set up/worded. Presumably in your example there's no room for context either. Fast speeds on *what kinds of roads* exactly?

[@averyhufford9437]

I want to live on a road that's 300 feet wide.

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@e7venjedi exactly, there’s no one perfect type of road! I know you get this, but I wish more people understood that goodness isn’t a linear factor, it’s some higher-dimensional graph!

[@234fddesa]

You know I think these narrow streets are even just more fun to drive on. Small car, curvy streets, narrow corners, big trees canopy overhead, what fun.

[@victormn47]

One extra comment: If all the streets were smaller in a new area, you would be able to fit in more housing in the same hectare.

[@zack95]

More houses means more people. More people in the same hectare means less room for each.

[@victormn47]

@@zack95 less room on the streets yes. The room each person has is dependent on more than just population. If more space is taken from streets or buildings are taller, each person would have the same amount of space in their house.

[@nadie8093]

@@zack95 if streets are made narrower, you could fit the same amount of houses with the same amount of square footage in a significantly smaller footprint. You are not on the street the whole day nor are your neighbours, so you dont actually need that extra street

[@zack95]

@@nadie8093 more houses means more people, means more need to move bit less move possibilities.

[@nadie8093]

@@zack95 it is still the same amount of houses per street. Yes, there will be more streets leading to collector and arterial roads, but this higher density reduces the need to travel so much, and therefore, the need to move wont rise that much through those roads

[@Adventuregirl96]

My father lived on a street that was wide and people would speed up and down it. When he was looking for a home to raise his family he wanted a narrow street. So where I grew up it was narrow with barely enough room for two cars to pass.

[@big0stupid0desaster]

Hey, i am a student doing my masters degree in germany in traffic engineering and traffic simulations and im glad you are doing these videos simply to inform and educate people about how cities work :) thanks!

[@kingchicken8232]

The newest first comments consist entirely of a) people defending wide streets b) foreigners talking about how thin their streets are

[@FilipSkobic]

Your videos are really informative! :) I live in Amsterdam and there are a lot of these really narrow "woonerf" streets which are really nice to be on. Also, the Dutch have managed to greatly reduce traffic and make cities more walkable and bikeable just with better planning.

[@CityBeautiful]

Thanks! I need to visit Amsterdam!

[@carfreeneoliberalgeorgisty5102]

@@CityBeautiful you should also visit Montréal and do a video on it because for North America they do city planning quite well. Same goes for Halifax.

[@GameCommandoNL]

I love how with these infrastructure videos The Netherlands is always looked upon for inspiration. However dumb it may sound, sure makes me proud.

[@typhoidtyphoon]

Haven't seen that Woonerf sign for ages tho...

[@MetDaan2912]

Precies dat!

[@gui18bif]

Unfortunately not anymore I wouldnt live in a country like yours in 2020

[@typhoidtyphoon]

​@@gui18bif Why?

[@typhoidtyphoon]

@@zUJ7EjVD Yes. We has Bicycles. Probably the most corona-proof form of transport other then the giant hamsterball. ... I wish I had one of those...

[@taith2]

Now imagine upkeep cost over the years, even if nobody driven it street will deteriorate.

[@peterswift9474]

Thanks for opening with our study on injury accidents :) The real problem in preventing narrower streets is the fire service. They actually can fight fires in residential neighborhoods with narrow streets as long as there is a connected network and other accommodations, but largely refuse to do so. I would love to see you explore this problem in a subsequent video.

[@shawnn1412]

Yes. My subdivision in the middle of Thornton, CO, has not been annexed because the streets are too narrow. Truthfully, I'm okay with this because I still get city fire service, but don't have to pay city taxes.

[@eesti919]

Maybe just get smaller fire trucks like in Europe? 😂

[@peterswift9474]

@@eesti919 Right. Eone has a ladder truck with only a 12' outrigger spread (HP100). Others also.

[@augustusaurelius2628]

@@eesti919 and smaller houses. Smaller rooms! Smaller everything! Live on a pod! Like the good little slave you are!

[@craig.bryant]

Watching this in the UK, the road is about 12 feet wide and we have no off street parking! Very slow traffic and very few accidents.

[@burgerpommes2001]

@Matthew Barrick no they wouldn't

[@SchoolWok24]

While looking at all those wide streets in the States, I thought to myself: "Wait until you see where I live." Then all of a sudden at 1:52, my street pops up hahaha! What a coincidence! P.s. It's the Westerstraat in Delft in the Netherlands ;)

[@nala3055]

SchoolWok24 cool!

[@xylander4781]

Nice, nederland (:

[@axel6269]

The bikes were kind of a giveaway

[@blitzn00dle50]

Doxxed. I am coming to your house.

[@andrewmaperson]

@@blitzn00dle50 hmm

[@catamountcubing4851]

who else felt a sudden urge to go outside and measure the width of their street

[@noonehere4332]

Use google maps

[@christianlibertarian5488]

First time I have ever agreed with the author. Back when my parents' neighborhood was constructed, the 60' streets were mandated by the city. I have no idea why. It is illogical to demand on-street parking when off street parking is also required. Just eliminating one side for parking would result in no functional change. There is a big economic bonus to developers for narrow streets--more salable lots per unit area.

[@CityBeautiful]

Hey, glad we agree on something!

[@JohnMFlores]

Not just residential streets either. In Ogden Utah, I entered a crosswalk with the walk sign to cross what 5 or 6 lanes. Almost immediately the don't walk sign with the 24 second countdown started flashing. I'm fit and made it without issue but I could not help but think of my octogenarian mother or anyone with a walking cane trying to cross that street without getting stressed out about making it.

[@naverilllang]

Cars have ro stop for crossing pedestrians. Always.

[@SuperSmashDolls]

This is Utah - drivers would totally run over a pedestrian if they were in their way. And then they'd flip them the bird, curse them out, and sue them for denting their 10 year old car they think is still worth $20k.

[@user-os8sq3uh4n]

Some people just shouldn't stand on the edge of a cliff. That's life. Same principle here.

[@emperorofwar1]

The don't walk sign still allows people to cross when in the road.

[@jackmortimer329]

Salt Lake City too.

[@CortezEspartaco2]

"But muh 9 foot wide extended cab truck with 4 foot tall suspension and 54 inch double tires won't fit on a narrower street. What about muh freedom?"

[@GhostOfAMachine]

Literally someone commented that reply to me on a video while back about he drives his massive pickup to work everyday. But he wasn't being sarcastic

[@shawnsanders6101]

@grafvonstauffenburg Paloocaville*

[@dinamosflams]

@grafvonstauffenburg so that you know, congressman-lawyer wannabe, this was not an argument. pointing it out acomplishes nothing but making people akbowledge your lack of awareness.

[@MFTQ]

@Aman Walksn2abar mate, not trying to be rude, but you're not really...not saying anything? Calling him an idiot won't really convince anyone.

[@MFTQ]

@Aman Walksn2abar You didn't say anything. You just called me an idiot. Just make a point. Seriously, I want to hear your point.

[@josephj6521]

Our street is wide and motorists use it like a speedway. I witnessed a few accidents in a very short time too. I wrote to council and pleaded to do something such as planting trees or even blocking part of the road as a thoroughfare. I haven’t heard boo. I wrote twice over 2 years ago. It’s got me thinking to write again and this time put in some facts about safer street design. Good video. :)

[@room34]

A lot of great arguments in here, and we're starting to see some of the retrofits mentioned at the end here in Minneapolis. As I was watching, I thought about the expectation that people would use their garages and driveways for parking, rather than street parking, in two contexts: I grew up in Austin, Minnesota (population 25,000). Our residential streets were very wide. Almost everyone kept their cars in their garages, but there was a very particular (and ridiculous) social etiquette about guests parking. When you were visiting, it was generally considered rude to park in the person's driveway. It was also rude to park in front of a house other than the one you were visiting. There were hardly ever any cars parked on the street, but people treated the space in front of their house like it was their own personal guest parking space. Totally unnecessary. Then I thought about my in-laws in Chicago. Many of their residential streets are narrow enough to have to be one-ways, but EVERYONE parks on the street. We sometimes have to park several blocks away because we can't find a closer space. They have alleys and garages, but almost no one parks their car in their garage, apparently because they believe it's more likely to get broken into. (I've never quite grasped that argument, especially since once while we were visiting a drunk driver came careening down the street, scraping the sides of every parked car on one side of the street for several blocks!) Anyway… my point is, I feel like there's a lot of stubbornness and inertia to overcome in the U.S. to make these kinds of changes widespread. I hope to be proven wrong!

[@mfaizsyahmi]

Come to Japan, most residential streets are 10 foot wide.

[@CityBeautiful]

I want to go! I've seen pictures of some amazing narrow streets and want to experience them firsthand.

[@MrRandomname1011]

36 foot wide streets! :O In the UK most residential streets are 12 foot wide if that!

[@MrRandomname1011]

You don't, my road for example has a row of parked cars in the left lane and the right lane is used for two way traffic. Drivers just let people go when needed.

[@BlueSkyEntertaiment]

In Germany you can only park on one side ande the oher lane has to be shared in both directions

[@MK-ex4pb]

MrRandomname1011 i know i love the uk except you don't have free speech or guns and your healthcare is atrocious

[@MK-ex4pb]

steve b they park half on the sidewalk and only on one side like the others said and you pull into a gap to let people pass. Most residential areas don't have constant traffic

[@ambrosemarquart]

It's common in Australia (well Sydney) too. Residential streets in older or brand new areas are usually about 6m wide (the post war to early 1980's suburban areas have very wide, american style streets) , cars park down both sides and two way traffic is allowed in the middle, the general etiquette is it to pull into a driveway/empty space to allow an on coming car to pass...It works well as there is low traffic volumes on side streets, some beach neighborhoods become a nightmare on the weekend though

[@boofiman6082]

Wide lanes are awful. Worst part is the anti-pedestrian lack of sidewalks because of the massive suburban streets. So awful

[@StefanMilo]

Great video. Having moved from the UK to the USA I can safely say the roads here are massive compared to Europe.

[@blitzn00dle50]

But why would you move to the worst developed country

[@shawnsoviak4573]

This is a really great point for suburban-style residential neighborhoods, but think for a sec about cities with densely-constructed residential neighborhoods, particularly on the East Coast. I live in a predominantly residential neighborhood in Baltimore, a city where the rowhouse is king, and most of the housing stock in the inner neighborhoods was constructed before the advent of the automobile and associated amenities like the driveway and garage. Homes were built to fill the width of lots, and most of the depths as well. Given that Baltimore is still a fairly auto-dependent city, many residents rely primarily on on-street parking. That on-street parking actually has some pretty great benefits for us, too. As you noted, the presence of parked cars narrows the driving path. For us, this slows the speed of cars on our residential streets. Additionally, the band of parked cars between the main driving path and the sidewalk creates something of a protective barrier for pedestrians and cyclists (most of our new bike paths are placed between the sidewalk and on-street parking). All I'm trying to say, really is that on-street parking is still, in certain cases, very useful. It can promote both residential density and a sense of safety for non-drivers.

[@ferociousfil5747]

Shawn Soviak you are showing other great examples of why narrow works and planning is important. Large roads for nothing that he is targeting are in suburbia not downtown residential neighborhoods.

[@netcreature]

In my area the amount of on-street parking used is likely closer to 85%. I've often wondered why people use the street when they have driveways, garages and in some cases also allies and parking pads. Although having 3-4 cars, a motorbike, a project vehicle and using the garage mostly for storing junk is probably the issue.

[@CityBeautiful]

Yeah, probably!

[@MilwaukeeF40C]

A garage makes an ideal storage and utility space with its huge door, while being okay to get dirty. Modern cars do not need to be babied indoors. Attached garages surrounded on the sides or top by living space are also inefficient in extreme outdoor temperatures, every time the door is opened. Parking more frequently used vehicles on the street can save time.

[@chaddts]

The issue is america was built with cars in mind. You can't ride a bike to work. And double parking your wife or mother is a great way to piss them off. Also this is highly exaggerated. Many residential roads are so narrow when oncoming traffic comes someone has to pull off to the side.

[@KingNefiiria]

Oil is a big factor in that, or the ease in which to take off from the side of the road as opposed to cramped narrow streets where cars would rather honk at you as they're speeding by instead of waiting for you to safely get out.

[@wolfy1987]

Its actually much safer to pull away when you're parked on the street versus backing out of a driveway

[@gaybroshevik4180]

Narrow Streets, Less Accidents. Wide Streets MORE ACCIDENTS.

[@theX24968Z]

narrow streets = less cars too. people hate driving on narrow streets. so no wonder its less accidents.

[@timmerman135]

@@theX24968Z that means that you don't need mazes to stop people from driving trough neighbourhoods

[@theX24968Z]

@@timmerman135 reduce the traffic and raise the speed limit on the highways so we don't need to drive through a neighborhood

[@ryke_masters]

If less people drive through neighborhoods and more of them take the highway because there's less traffic on the highway, then in the end there's more traffic on the highway. That's one of the major problems with the "more, faster, wider roads" approach to traffic problems. Also, traffic on highways is not caused by low speed limits, and if you don't remove the underlying causes, what you're doing is, at best, getting people to traffic jams (where the speed limit does not matter) faster, and at the worst, increasing the rate at which accidents occur on top of that.

[@facepalmnetwork255]

kekw

[@MusikCassette]

EVEN if you have a parking lane, it makes sense to put obstructions in so parking gets saver.

[@seanuminski]

But... Super Bowl parties

[@StreetPeter]

That's what i was thinking.

[@dgdw]

Any parties. Most suburban neighborhoods in the Chicago area have a similar space utilization for on street parking ..... until someone throws a huge party. These are areas without other options for getting to someone’s home.

[@MilwaukeeF40C]

Screw the NFL. Bring back XFL.

[@aemt4u]

If u Live near the creator of This video I'm sure he would be cool with you talking on his lawn after all it's safer

[@astrinymris9953]

Re: Super Bowl parties-- It IS possible for people to carpool, or to use Uber. In fact, if alcohol is to be served at this Super Bowl party, having designated drivers is highly advisable. Now, extended family get-togethers like Thanksgiving or Christmas... *THAT'S* a legit reason for having surplus parking capacity! Not to mention that streets need to be broad enough for First Responders to react to 911 calls. If you or a loved one were having a stroke, would you really want the ambulance driver to have to slowly thread their way through narrow streets to reach you?

[@nine300]

All this wasted pavement, and in San Francisco you can't even find parking within 2 blocks of your own front door. I guess being surrounded by ocean on three sides is kind of a bitch.

[@iamcleaver6854]

Don't buy a car then...

[@sherylgill7638]

sf has pretty narrow streets especially considering youre on the same level as nyc, chicago and boston

[@user-nf9xc7ww7m]

@@iamcleaver6854 In america, that is a death sentence. Public transport, if it exists in the area, is only intercity. Amtrak may have a few lines, but not feasible or timely, and definitely not cross country.

[@iamcleaver6854]

@@user-nf9xc7ww7m In San Francisco? The city that has metro and trams?

[@sirens7421]

@@iamcleaver6854 san fransisco public transport is way to expensive to use on a daily bases.

[@seprishere]

BTW 36 feet? Really? 11 metres? That's the sort of width a rural 60 mph single carriageway would have.

[@M4ttNet]

I know this is a little old, but definitely see a lot of planned communities now with narrower residential streets for the reasons you mention.

[@CharlieVollenweider]

I think this is a much bigger problem out west than on the east coast of the USA. I live in GA and there are very few streets that are too wide to the degree you are talking about. My sister just moved to. Denver and I was blown away by how wide some of the residential roads are there. They could fit two GA residential roads on most Denver residential roads.

[@alexb5275]

Charlie Vollenweider I live in GA too, and I don't know of any residential streets that are as wide as the ones in the video.

[@CharlieVollenweider]

+Ur Nan There are a few in some of the cities. State Street between 10th and 16th in Atlanta comes to mind. But they are normally through streets in dense areas where most if not all of the street parking is used/needed.

[@maxwellritz3156]

Virginia is full of them, basically any street in the 757 fits those descriptions

[@jesuschrist2616]

Dude i live in nyc we dont have wide roads i drive a semi truck for a living but narrow roads are fun makes a nice challenge

[@obits3]

Many of our streets on the Texas coast are wide to act as secondary water storage to prevent flooding.

[@SirFloofy001]

As a truck driver i LOVE Texas roads. :D

[@ThomasPlaysTheGames]

And extra routes for evacuation. Though I've only seen it happen a few times.

[@paulschmid-schonbein8250]

Tom Forge That really helped last year. /s

[@itsallgood5314]

Tom Forge Texas forever

[@frankhooper7871]

As a UK resident, I have to smile to myself at what Americans perceive as narrow streets. I've just actually paced my street out: the roadway is ~22' wide with a 6' pavement [sidewalk] on either side. From my front door to the pavement is 7'. There is no off-street parking and cars are parked on _both_ sides of the street. There is a short stretch in the middle of the street where parking is only permitted on one side to allow cars to pull in for passing...it is not a one-way street!

[@ninjanerdstudent6937]

I’m subscribed to a biker’s channel on KZbin who always praises Amsterdam. I bet this guy will love this video and agree with everything. He has a lot of contempt for cars and loves his bike lanes.

[@HallsofAsgard96]

NJB?

[@BenchFox_]

Always showing the Netherlands as an example. Touché.

[@slc679]

The netherlands just happens to be the most advanced in urban planning. Deal with it 🤷‍♂️

[@BenchFox_]

@@slc679 Advanced? More like boring.

[@walterclements7968]

@@BenchFox_ boring? How tf is a good street design boring?

[@BenchFox_]

@@walterclements7968 It's not the street design that's boring; it's the planning in general, since all the houses are pretty much the same. (in general)

[@walterclements7968]

@@BenchFox_ yeah we have our famous "rijtjeshuizen" and I can't but agree with the fact that they are quite boring. Luckily, newer neighborhoods are not as boring as those. From the 1930's there was just a big demand for housing and they chose quantity over originality.

[@john_hunter]

As a new driver who gets nervous when driving a little bit over the speed limit, and drives a little bit farther right than most, wider roads are my dream. However you bring up good points.

[@langhamp8912]

Wide suburban streets are mandated by the fire department in order to fit their huge trucks. That's ironic, because the increased traffic deaths caused by wider roads is greater than the number of people saved by EMS.

[@bepishepus3506]

It also makes street races feel faster.

[@Muumbabuumba]

Stephen Jin AE86❤️

[@Jarekthegamingdragon]

Mean while in portland, our big roads are too narrow and our residential streets never had the space to be big any way. lol

[@xdn22]

good.

[@moismoje78]

Driveways don’t always provide enough parking for visitors particularly when you have a rental with roommates. Having a visual gap between parked cars and your lane helps you see hazards. Opposing traffic still needs to pass. Try backing in a trailer or larger car into your driveway from a narrow street. Larger trucks need to still navigate these roads with other traffic as well. Fire and ambulances also need more space to ensure they can get on scene quickly. Try doing you count of parking in the evening when all the residents are home or weekend evenings when people have a gathering at their home, parking becomes an issue.

[@paulebroderick]

These are fine points - but should we really be designing capacity for “what if they have a party?”. It seems excessive, surely people can get taxis if they’ll be drinking - or walk a bit further? I suppose as I come from The UK (where it’s normal for cars to be parked both sides and you pull in to let others past) I don’t think it’s that much of an issue - as traffic levels on residential roads (not through routes) should be fairly low, and if higher the road can be made 1 way?

[@thechickenstew3716]

Laughs in NYC: side walks are 8 feet wide in some areas, and with some spots with tree planters, the sidewalks are 4ft wide

[@eddiecanis]

That unused parking is there for when we have parties and people come over

[@brianjonker510]

That is what lawns are for. Overflow parking

[@TheElectricGhost]

Most two way street in New York City is technically too narrow. Sometimes when you're driving you have to stop to allow a bigger vehicle to past by and on top of that the street also has parking on both sides😭

[@kucingsuci]

Tj Flex sounds like everyday things in my country too (Indonesia) but we drive smaller cars here so yeah...

[@roy_hks]

Tj Flex All streets suck in New York. Cars are basically useless there, they should invest in pedestrian and bike-only zones. And fix the cycling infrastructure.

[@DripExplains]

Nope, 10 million people live in NYC, and until they fix their public transportation system, a car is more of a viable option. Plus cyclist don't always use their lanes, don't wear helmets and do a lot of dumb shit.

[@TheElectricGhost]

ForeignBorn Patriot Cars are not viable in New York City, especially in Manhattan. Everything in the city rely heavily on public transportation. When it shuts down, the city that never sleeps goes to sleep. This is not Los Angeles

[@DripExplains]

IngeniousFirefly I've been living in NYC for 32 years. Yes I drive and love it. Fuck the train and the bus with all their delays and fucking idiot passengers.

[@VitalVampyr]

The suburban neighborhood I live in hardly ever has any on-street parking available. Partly because there's only parking on one side of the street and most of the houses have 1-car garages with extremely narrow driveways. Also because it seems almost all my neighbors think that their 2-4 person household needs an extensive fleet of vehicles which would not physically fit onto their 1 acre lot without demolishing the buildings first.

[@bhavinshah679]

I would put bike/escooter lanes on every street everywhere

[@CarsSimplified]

I do like that neighborhoods have excess parking, since there are times where more parking than usual is needed, such as for family gatherings, parties, and so on. I don't care that there may be room for a neighbor's visitor in my driveway, my driveway needs to be clear so I can go to work, go buy things, or perhaps just get away from the noise of a neighbor's party.

[@natesawyer2791]

The Seattle street's parking still seems pretty excessive to me...

[@Novusod]

I recently moved to a neighborhood with narrow streets and it sucks. I am constantly feuding with the neighbors over parking. At night every single slot is taken. I want to go back to the wide street neighborhood I grew up in.

[@andretsang7337]

Novusod you don't have a driveway/ garage?

[@MilwaukeeF40C]

Even contemporary garages are short as hell. My Corolla barely fits in the place I currently reside at. A sedan would require me to move the garbage cans to a spot with less fung shooey. My company pickup that is loaded with equipment I need will not fit at all, nor would the Galaxie that was offered to me that desperately needs indoor space.

[@fascistswan3470]

John R communist always want to take away from you.

[@routemaster3877]

In the uk our streets are just wide for 2 cars

[@buttersquids]

Exactly, and it's much better that way

[@genericbrand5148]

Same here in Canada

[@fascistswan3470]

You aren't even free over there. Free speech guns and big roads. Murica fuck ya

[@madazizan2164]

Same with Malaysia. Very, very narrow.

[@jenwhite8832]

routemaster 387 I have lived in both, grew up in the US but have lived in the U.K. for over a decade now. I miss the wider roads of the US. Firstly, I spend most of my residential driving time here pulling in behind parked cars so other cars can pass (or waiting while someone else does the same for me), delivery trucks often struggle to negotiate the narrow space, and also between the narrow roads and the narrow pavements, there is no room for the kids in the neighbourhood to go out and play, like there was in my old neighbourhoods in the US. I agree with his points here about how it makes you slow down and pay attention, and that many American roads are too wide. But I don’t see it as the narrower, the better. The situation gets even worse when you go to a newly built estate, they are like rabbit warrens, and it’s proven that it affects mental health.

[@jacksonreasoner1408]

In my neighborhood, all of the houses have 2 car garages and a 4 car driveway, yet people own so many cars due to suburbia that it overflows into the street and people prefer to use their garages as smoking rooms.

[@GhostOfAMachine]

Thats the reason why so many people in the US just commutes with big suvs and pickup trucks while drowning in endless debt. Narrower streets means they will have to make a smarter choice in life. And lower accidents and pedestrian fatalities

[@baronjutter]

I'd say the biggest obstacle isn't residents wanting their street parking or even traffic engineers clinging to their outdated standards, it's fire departments. As roads in north american got wider, fire departments kept buying bigger and bigger equipment. But they wanted bigger equipment, bigger toys, and demanded wider roads. I've seen countless developments that wanted to have narrower roads denied because it didn't meet some insane fire department regulation that would let them park two huge big-rig sized fire trucks side by side and have room to turn around comfortably. And who's going to say no to the fire department? Who's going to reign in their quest for bigger and bigger "apparatus" ? No one, it's political sucicide to challenge a fire department.

[@CityBeautiful]

That's very true! The developers of Village Homes in Davis, CA wanted narrow streets and literally had to mock up proposed roads and have the fire department try it out to see if their trucks could navigate them. Furthermore, lots of other countries use smaller fire apparatus than we do and their cities aren't burning to the ground...

[@andretsang7337]

Perhaps it'd be wise to build streets like that one in Seattle, but have a minimum width of space where there are no trees along a straight path. That way, a fire truck could if necessary mow through the dirt/plants, but it wouldn't be an issue otherwise.

[@machinerin151]

City Beautiful, the rest of the world doesn't burn to the ground without wide streets because *houses aren't made of a freaking wood!* That's a huge fire hazard in the US, so you've got to follow the fire department regulations, or else you might die in flames and fumes along with quite a few of your neighbours. And the collision statistics aren't representative, because those neighbourhoods with wiggly tiny streets certainly attract higher level of middle class, while the standard streets have homes affordable to wider range of buyers. And the income level has a pretty big separation -(and segregation)- of people

[@IkeOkerekeNews]

Markus Socius Wrong.

[@Tuppoo94]

Jarren Butterworth I'm sure you or someone you know will thank that "insane fire department regulation" when your or their house is on fire with the kids and the dog trapped inside. It's not just political suicide to challenge a fire department, at worst it's actual suicide.

[@peterjack9994]

Parking on one side only. Narrowing of intersections. But then. Builders build one car spots and car centric households buy two cars and plug up the on street parking again. And they put two thousands of junk in their garages and leave their 30,000 car outside and claim there is not enough parking.

[@paulebroderick]

4:45 - “only 16ft wide”, in the UK most new residential estates are about this wide (4.8m - and still used for on street parking), with roads about 6m (20ft) wide used for the “spine road” / local distributor road … maybe slightly larger if it’s a bus route.

[@PixiBoii]

On a residental street, You don’t need fucking parking lanes or dedicated parking spots. Just have the street wide enough for three cars. Then cars can park on the streetside, and driving cars can go around them. That’s how we often do it here (Denmark), works great for residental streets.

[@nelhuiliztli2926]

I agree but I also have a big family. When we do parties, we take about 15 spaces. Where I live it isn’t a problem but relatives that live inside of cul-de-sacs or residential zones it’s quite hard to find spaces.

[@MirkyMan]

Just park a walk away

[@fascistswan3470]

Gerard Curtis just move to a communist country and stop trying to change ours

[@Dovenpeis]

Americans need communism too.

[@richarda.w.4562]

Fascist Swan your idea of "communism" is whatever boomer era neocon ""conservatives"" tell you. Think for yourself, moron

[@Dovenpeis]

A.M. Utt, so why don't you tell the whatever boomer era neocon ""conservatives"", and the working class, who benefits from what, and why?

[@niallackroyd7210]

Here in the UK our residential streets are pretty narrow, problem is most houses don't have garages, so people park on the road, making it a nightmare to get through

[@James-gc5if]

It's hardly a "nightmare".

[@rickvermeulen2423]

You had some good valid points in this video, but dont forget about the millions (probably even billions) of $$$ it would save the goverment; reducing used asphalt / plumming etc. would on itself be a good point to rethink the current way of contructing roads in America.

[@Castle3179]

@Αγαπη Laird Thank you!

[@86wellacre]

In the UK some streets are narrow because they are based off the old road system built many many years ago. In general it isn’t too bad, it’s just when you get old roads with older properties built on them. You have cars parked on both sides and you have to wait for an opportunity to pass if another car is coming.

[@incognito602]

At first I thought this video was ridiculous, but then I remembered that I am from Canada and 1/3 of the road goes to piling snow lol

[@IntarwebUser]

People get pissed off if you park in their driveway, though. I don't think completely eliminating on-street parking is a good idea. Reducing it to one side of the road, or those other options you showed, may be ok.

[@BlueSkyEntertaiment]

in germany you just park on the driving lane and then threre is only one driveway so you have to wait

[@daprovocateur]

Another benefit: higher density housing. If streets are narrower, then there’s more space to build housing for any given residential subdivision space. You couldn’t retrofit that, but could for new developments.

[@ayelmao1231]

I always assumed that suburban streets were so wide so that way in the future when the urban area spreads out more, the suburban streets were already accomadated for an urban enviornment.

[@davegreenlaw5654]

The whole issue of on-street vs. driveway/garage parking as you presented here is way too simplistic. To start with, it does not take into account that those using each car may not be leaving and returning in an orderly fashion, and that there would be need for someone to have to move their car to let another in or out all too often. Referring back to your video on metro systems and why they aren't as many in the US partially because of the car culture and Americans wanting their independence the car gives them, which is why for one single-family home in the suburbs you might have upwards of 3-4 cars. Now, a home with a wide driveway that can accommodate 3 cars side by side is fine, but what happens in older neighbourhoods with room only for narrow but deep driveways. (This is quite common in many neighbourhoods of Toronto, where the detached garage is in the back, and the driveway runs almost the entire length of the property. Yes it can accommodate 3-4 cars, but those cars are all in a row, and if the driver of the one at the very back needs to get out, that can be a nightmare.)

[@CityBeautiful]

Thanks for the thoughtful comment! I chose to measure absolute spaces in garages and driveways, as opposed to convenient spaces in garages and driveways because one is objective and the other is subjective. Sure, it can be inconvenient to move a car to allow another to leave in a narrow driveway, but the occupant may prefer that situation to parking blocks away from their house in places where on street parking is scarce. Furthermore, in my study I make the point that most of the housing built in the postwar era have driveways at least two and more typically three cars wide (in the area I studied). While some families may have four or more vehicles, Census data on car ownership says that the typical family has between 2-3. I also note that on-street parking is more used in older neighborhoods with less off-street parking, like you mention in Toronto. In my experience, those streets are also already narrower than the newer suburban streets and wouldn't be prime candidates to remove on-street parking anyway. Let's start where the problem is most acute, in very low-density suburbs with houses that have wide driveways.

[@davegreenlaw5654]

Fair enough, good points all around. I know that my grandparent's neighbourhood - where my cousin and her family still live - was one of the first post-war planned neighbourhoods, in '46-'47. That had narrow streets, save for the main artery coming in from the busy corner, and had single car garages with driveways that 'could' accommodate two cars. For the 40's, 50's, and 60's, this was all fine and good, even into the 70's and 80's, there was still enough space to have another car parked on the street. Even in the 21st Century, it is still feasible in terms of parking, as opposed to newer subdivisions where we see the problems you've mentioned in this video.

[@EddieAtTheMorgue]

We have a similar set up, but our back yard is large enough to fit another house there; so we treat our driveway as if it were a one-way street. We park 3 cars on one side, in a line, and leave the other side open to fit a 4th car in half of the garage (It’s a 2 car garage. The side blocked by the 3 cars is used for storage). When the outside cars come or go, they use the yard so they can parallel park in the drive way. No one gets blocked in or out.

[@stugonmonday7511]

No more drive ways or parking spaces. Keeping roads and cars out populated areas would reduce pedestrian deaths to almost nothing. Let's not build our cities around cars, let's build them around people.

[@roy_hks]

Dave Greenlaw Fix your car culture than. Also, older neighbourhoods should have space cleared out for shared parking.

[@mimikal7548]

Man, I live in England, and I think you shouldn't complain. A normal suburban English street has barely enough space for one car. I look up to US streets.

[@roy_hks]

Mimi Kal That's not the case in all European countries tho. England just sucks

[@DoselH]

Roy Hoeksema It is. Atleast the ones in the EU trust me roads are small everywhere i have been in Switzerland,Italy and germany lol everyone of them has some small roads somewhere not just an british problem

[@mimikal7548]

Yes...

[@johnbaptise2262]

Yes but england and all of europe has a much better bike road system, smaller cars, and slower speed limits than in the US

[@ferociousfil5747]

Joseph Kroll and 4 times the price of petrol/gas

[@MaartenvanRossemLezingen]

Another question, why do you have such gigantic front yards? Wouldn't you want to build your house closer to the road so you can make it bigger?

[@Castle3179]

The yards are a status symbol and people make the excuse that they want places for the children to play.

[@coldcartcold8633]

Nono, having a street with close walls can feel bad. The best thing is looking at green spaces. Generally, then maybe it depends how good you design it.

[@mattandwill248]

If you live on a semi-busy road having a house close to that road is loud

[@mattandwill248]

ZyklonButterfly. How is wanting a place for children to play an excuse?

[@l0ndon429]

@@mattandwill248 Because nobody plays in the front garden anyway, thats what back gardens and local parks are for.

[@flatfingertuning727]

Parking demand in residential neighborhoods is highly variable. Someone who is having a party for a major sporting event, for example, might easily have guests arrive in half a dozen or more cars--far more than would fit in their own garage or driveway. Perhaps someone might be willing to ask some neighbors beforehand for permission to have guests park in their driveways, but guests would likely feel awkward doing so. The fact that 94% of parking spaces are unused at some typical time doesn't mean that there aren't occasionally times when they are very useful.

[@Bellerophon2200]

This is such a great idea, I would love to see this in major sprawl capitals like Houston and Los Angeles.

[@kawaiidere1023]

I wish this was in Plano, where I live

[@corivian]

I live in the netherlands and we have those “woonerf” you showed, and indeed you dont want to drive the speed limit of 30 kmh bc it so narrow most of the time

[@MalePietje]

The speedlimit for a woonerf in the Netherlands is 15 kmh though ;)

[@danielcombrinck7742]

In Canada, we also have wide streets and at first I wondered about that until I saw that when it snows, cars park at 45degrees as they have to share the road with all that snow, until it is removed.

[@GLee-oe3op]

You might be able to convert some residential streets into groves. That would increase housing and take back land from cars

[@Brindlebrother]

The dislikes are from Americans who have no idea what he's talking about

[@evantimms2809]

wide streets are ugly, incentivize driving instead of walking / transit which adds to congestion and air pollution.

[@mohammedsarker5756]

If density and distance permits, they should use that extra space for some kind of dedicated bus lanes or even light rail

[@avani112]

Driving on American roads like this seems so much easier because you can actually fit two bidirectional cars on them. You don't have to dodge and weave past parked cars every time you want to drive straight.

[@imnotusingmyrealname4566]

Woah that Seattle street is BEAUTIFUL and I imagine it's also more exciting to walk, ride or drive on it.

[@jamescusack6511]

Either I’m just that bored or you make a good video, because I just watched a 5 minute video simply talking about street sizes. Well done sir!

[@CityBeautiful]

Thanks!

[@kieranmorris7315]

I think while some of the complaints against narrow streets are valid a lot of them don't consider the over reliance of cars for transportation. On-street parking doesnt affect someone that uses public transport, and then you might not need so many cars and thus a narrower road isn't a problem. Also they fail to consider that a city/town is a human settlement not a car settlement, they should be designed for people not for cars.

[@scottlewis1479]

Narrower streets also gets parked cars off the road....which prohibits easy car break ins...imagine all thr catalytic converters saved....also I. Cities like Pirtland it will stop people from parking junker broken down cars and rvs in public neighborhoods they dont pay taxes and contribute to...

[@xerxesau1308]

I know you're American-based, but could you also include metric measurements where possible for your international audience?

[@CityBeautiful]

Yes, I will in the future! Sorry about that. I wish the U.S. was on metric.

[@MK-ex4pb]

Wal Nutz damn fucking straight. Fuck these commie metric bastards. Base 12 master race

[@mardiffv.8775]

The metric system is used by the rest of the world, aka the majority. And I am NOT a communist. MS is easier to work with, converting from one measurement to another: 2 kilometers = 2000 meters for exemple. Do the same when converting 2 miles to yards. MS is just shifter the point and done. NO need for calculations. On a hot day I carry 2 liters of water in my backpack. What is the weight of the water? 2 kilograms, because one liters = one kilograms. One gallon = 8.44 lbs, not handy to work with.

[@cabey6299]

Mardiff V. You do realise he is trolling, don't you?

[@Distress.]

City Beautiful the us is on metric, it's just most of us prefer the current system.

[@DaInsano]

As someone who lives in Germany, I can tell you that narrow roads are an absolute nightmare!

[@Montabaurhood]

DaInsano cool, aber wer hat gefragt?

[@n00btotale]

@@Montabaurhood lmao

[@golling3334]

One massive thing forgotten on this topic is the fact that cities in Europe have been there for hundreds of years, while often in the USA a road can go from random residential to busy City Street in a matter of 10 years. For example, right by where I live there is a city that 10 years ago had mainly single family homes and large yards and now it is practically full of condo complexes and has a Walmart, home Depot, and a few other similarly large businesses. Basically it went from only needing narrow roads to being very busy and needing wide roads in many areas

[@wendypierce5621]

My mom’s home is on a narrow street in Oregon, people park all over the place and yet some drivers still treat it like their own personal racetrack.

[@CalicoJack-uv8yd]

Lots of angry suburbanites hitting dislike on this one lol

[@MelissaTimea99]

I'm not gonna lie. I live in an apartment now, but my dream is to live in a house with a wide street like the one I grew up in.

[@neurofiedyamato8763]

I prefer wide spaces in residential. Feels more open and peaceful. But I don't think that open space needs to be asphalt roads. Open green spaces or even sidewalks would do just as well. So I'm fine with narrower streets as long the view is still nice and open. My street's width is fine under normal circumstance but everyone have 2-3 cars for some damn reason. We have a one-way road with one sided-parking so people from both side of the street try to cram on that one side. Most people here don't use the garage because everyone use it for storage apparently. Only the driveway is used, but some people didn't even do that! They either fence the driveway off or use it for their little garden or inflatable pool. So now there's not enough parking space because everyone is being an idiot.

[@TalenGryphon]

One benefit of wide streets: If the area gets re-zoned later into higher density housing or commercial, the city won't have to battle residents over trying to expand an existing right of way. (I live in a boomtown where this is happening a lot)

[@Stratelier]

I live in a small town where, within the last 1-2 years, one of its major residential arterial roads received a major redesign. I don't recall the old design very well (so much as I recall, as a bicyclist, avoiding using the street whenever possible!) but the new design features vehicle parking on only one side of the road ... which generally goes mostly unused.

[@Holland1994D]

1:53 + 2:01 Ah the Netherlands

[@patrick_test123]

Holland1994D everything is so tiny in the Netherlands.

[@jamesmanning8269]

Spamme Loop but it’s great!

[@snepNL]

hate the small bunched up streets in the Netherlands.

[@edipires15]

Spamme Loop except their motorways

[@WoWKoest]

bruh I live in Back Bay and our streets are hardly wide enough to drive on at all

[@RasheedahNizam]

A great feature of more narrow streets and slower residential traffic is that homes and offices can be placed closer to the curb without the noise, thereby enabling more of the lot to be in the rear of the property. Most Americans never use their front lawn/yard. It's strictly ornamental. Setting aside half of your land (not including the house) for ornament is a waste. Few people truly enjoy yard work unless they are avid gardeners, but you enjoy it less when it's a useless patch of buffer between home and street. You also tend to lose a lot of land if the city decides that the traffic moves too fast for a sidewalk to go right up against the road, so your property gets carved up.

[@kaleckton]

KZbin recommended this for some reason so I'm going to throw my two cents. Many residential locations are wide because of semi trucks. Usually when a new area is zoned to build end mass, semi trucks are brought in to bring supplies. Depending on the contractors they can bring everything. Semi trucks do a lot of damage while turning or moving through narrow neighborhoods by hitting trees or driving through lawns on accidents which can be worsened depending on location. I saw a flatbed semi went the wrong way heading into a worksite and took out the entire side of a building. It was his fault for taking the route, but its a good example. Also wide streets allow premade building semis to go through without damage or damaging property. Narrow roads would make it impossible and would cause problems for those who may not be able to afford more expensive builds. And they are left wide to allow rental moving vehicles, fire trucks, ambulances, garbage vehicles, school buses , and future builds to go through a area especially if there's damage. Narrow roads increase building costs, and increases the likihood of those vehicles damaging or being unable to go through certain roads . which while is not a problem most of the time sometimes it can be life threatening. As a truck driver I have seen fire trucks unable to reach narrow streets because they are just too narrow especially if vehicles park on the sides.

[@DSQueenie]

Lol narrower streets may be safer but there is more road rage. In the UK our streets are waaay to narrow as most people use on street parking.

[@PampamBritAm]

DSQueenie I definitely agree with you. I'd say average UK roads are the exact opposite of roads in North America, with different problems. Plus you often have to wait because there aren't enough lanes or lots of intersections / traffic lights

[@trulyUnAssuming]

use public transport :-p

[@JawsBoris1072]

That's due to different problems, though. Most of the streets in the UK, in particular in London and other old cities, weren't designed for cars and have been retrofitted to accommodate them. The city isn't following a design and everything is quite haphazard. When we eventually do away with the need for the vast quantity of cars we drive this will return to being a beautiful and interesting place to move around in, but while cars are still required it's a nightmare. He's not saying the US should copy this, he's saying that streets should be designed using the results of research done on this topic. The narrow streets he's proposing, such as the ones in Seattle shown, are specifically built for all traffic to accomplish a specific task in that area.

[@scose]

The UK's narrow streets combined with driving on the opposite side of the road make it very stressful for visitors to drive there. I scraped a hubcap on my rental car, luckily they didn't notice lol

[@MilwaukeeF40C]

Jackasses are going to drive slow camper vans anyway. At least the U.S. has room to go around them.

[@DavidJGillCA]

Wide residential streets are characteristic of California and some other Western states. This is less true elsewhere in the nation. In Ohio and much of the Midwest residential streets are typically of the 24' variety. Though, there has a bias everywhere on the part of state transportation agencies to widen streets to increase safety or for other often mistaken purposes.

[@Ggdivhjkjl]

In part of western Sydney they built a whole suburb with narrow streets. As people still parked on both sides of the road, fire trucks couldn't get through and houses burnt down.

[@schlossb]

This is a great video that asks such an innocent question that few people ever stop to consider - why are residential streets so wide when houses along them have driveways and garages? There are big implications from this simple question and this video makes it quick and easy to engage. Well done!

[@andrecosta9387]

What about how in northern regions, snow usually builds up along the road, so I feel that narrower streets would make it impossible to drive, since the road becomes even narrower with snowbanks

[@jesuschrist2616]

André Costa not really

[@Leijona321]

You push the snow out of the street obviously lol...

[@MissingSpartan]

This is actually true. Sections of new york were inaccessible by car for a week after a big snow storm because the roads were too narrow.

[@delathenleso5793]

@@Leijona321 you've never seen the results of heavy snowfall, then. There's nowhere for the snow to go, even after several passes of a good snowplow.