well, it finally happened... 3794That's not the reason. Nobody needs to drive to the 12th street redline station. The red line is CTA 'L'. It doesn't make any sense what so...
I lived in a neighborhood like that. It has the standard two entrances to the main street, plus a "back" entrance to the adjacent neighborhood (which also had regular entrances to the main streets). This provided some redundancy but was never a good "shortcut" for regular traffic, so it worked out well.
What REALLY sucks about these neighborhoods, however, is the limited pedestrian access. Around here, each neighborhood is like a medieval castle: it is surrounded by high walls, and there is a "moat" composed of busy collector roads, strip malls, washes, freeays, creeks, railroad tracks, and other restricted rights of way. Apparently the planners who designed these neighborhoods are like the OP and never expected anyone to walk anywhere. This is why every morning there is a constrant stream of school-age children scaling the fence that surrounds their neighborhood because it's faster to climb a 9-foot fence than to walk an extra mile around to the legitimate entrance.
Fortunately, my own neighborhood was built back when people still walked. ;) In addition to two vehicular entrances, there are two well-placed pedestrian shortcuts, including one that leads directly into the adjacent shopping center. -- What the heck, I'll play too. - Dave
