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Old, organic non-grids in my area aren't due to anything other than topography and road construction technology available at the time the area was settled. Ther

Old, organic non-grids in my area aren't due to anything other than topography and road construction technology available at the time the area was settled. There are grids too, with a very wide variety of architecture (the city was settled by people from all over europe and the near-east). In both cases, the architecture varies, so it's a nice point of comparison for non-cookie-cutter construction issues. Non-grids tend to have fewer straight lines of sight, so they are more pleasing to live in; trees create an even greater sense of privacy, and people drive a bit slower. They tend to be more pleasing to live in, at least in that regard. On the other hand, they're miserable for commuting if they're big enough. So many slow turns and stops makes it harder to get to a main thoroughfare. If you don't have a good sense of direction or memory, living back in one feels further away than you actually are, which makes the commute feel longer than it actually is. Short trips to the grocery store feel longer if you don't have one inside your non-grid neighborhood.

devilbunny 4y ago
There's an interesting hybrid system in New Orleans proper. The city follows the curve of the river, with original land grants being in the French classic frontage-and-depth layout (each grant received a certain minimum amount of river frontage, for shipping out products, and then extended back as far as was possible given the terrain). Within each original grant, there is a grid, and between them there are major boulevards to permit higher-speed, higher-volume traffic from one part of the city to another. But within each grid section, you're entirely on narrow, mostly residential streets - with a few commercial stretches scattered around, and far more neighborhood bars and restaurants in mostly-residential areas than is common in most of the US. Aside from the weather (it's almost always hot and humid), a very bikeable city. And if you're in a car, it usually only takes a few blocks of travel to get to a major road (e.g., the largely-pedestrian French Quarter bounded by Canal, Rampart, and Esplanade).

devilbunny 4y ago

There's an interesting hybrid system in New Orleans proper. The city follows the curve of the river, with original land grants being in the French classic frontage-and-depth layout (each grant received a certain minimum amount of river frontage, for shipping out products, and then extended back as far as was possible given the terrain). Within each original grant, there is a grid, and between them there are major boulevards to permit higher-speed, higher-volume traffic from one part of the city to another. But within each grid section, you're entirely on narrow, mostly residential streets - with a few commercial stretches scattered around, and far more neighborhood bars and restaurants in mostly-residential areas than is common in most of the US. Aside from the weather (it's almost always hot and humid), a very bikeable city. And if you're in a car, it usually only takes a few blocks of travel to get to a major road (e.g., the largely-pedestrian French Quarter bounded by Canal, Rampart, and Esplanade).