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Residential streets are too wide. Here's why. episode artwork

Nov 12, 2026 8 min

Residential streets are too wide. Here's why.

from City Beautiful Hosted by City Beautiful

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:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0820345458/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0820345458&linkCode=as2&tag=cityb-20&linkId=fd656b3efd3b9143ed3a413a9e2ea148Video sources:- Videoblocks.comPhoto sources:- AASHTO- Blake Wheeler (via Unsplash.com)- Drew DeVitis https://psudelft2015drewdevitis.wordpress.com/2015/07/12/the-woonerf-living-streets-for-people/- Google Maps- NASA- Wikimedia CommonsFilmed in sunny Sacramento, California.

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Residential streets are too wide. Here's why.

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