Bigger home on busy street v. Smaller home on quiet street

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd never buy on a busy street. I've passed up lots of great houses because they are on busy streets. That's a nonnegotiable issue for me. Some people I know live in great houses on busy streets and are perfectly happy. I like to garden and sit outside and chat with my neighbors, and that's so unpleasant on a busy street with cars and exhaust fumes. Plus my child has asthma, so the air quality is much worse right on a busy street. I'd choose the smaller, cheaper house. Move up when you have more money or add on to the smaller house. You can never change the traffic noise, though; you are stuck with that forever.

Yeah, there are a few people who think this way, but they're hardly the majority.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd never buy on a busy street. I've passed up lots of great houses because they are on busy streets. That's a nonnegotiable issue for me. Some people I know live in great houses on busy streets and are perfectly happy. I like to garden and sit outside and chat with my neighbors, and that's so unpleasant on a busy street with cars and exhaust fumes. Plus my child has asthma, so the air quality is much worse right on a busy street. I'd choose the smaller, cheaper house. Move up when you have more money or add on to the smaller house. You can never change the traffic noise, though; you are stuck with that forever.

Yeah, there are a few people who think this way, but they're hardly the majority.

And to elaborate, people have different definitions of what is a "busy" street. There's someone here who gets all draconian about ignoring houses on any street that has a double yellow line, when in fact I've seen plenty double-yellow line roads that don't have much traffic at all. And despite pp's comments, not all "busy streets" emit constant exhaust fumes. You might get that if traffic backed up near your house, but a constant flow of traffic that goes by twice a day doesn't really increase the emissions levels considerably for your house anymore than others in nearby cul de sacs. I mean, Code Red days are Code Red days for everyone. This idea that "air quality is much worse on a private street" is just silly.

[Anonymous]

I'm biased - I live on a busy street and for me it was and is worth the tradeoffs, since we got a great school district, a walkable neighborhood and an easy commute at a price we could afford. I think it's irresponsible to buy something small on the assumption that you can easily move or add on - either of those options will easily cost you 100s of thousands more if you're in the city. But there are people who will never consider a house on a busy street, so be aware it will affect your house's appreciation and its resale options and timeline. Also be aware that the pace of development in the closein suburbs is only intensifying, so we're all going to be dealing with more traffic - that applies both to currently busy streets and those that aren't so much right now.

Anyway I don't understand people who want to live in the city (or who want to live in close-in suburbs that are walkable and convenient to public transit) but freak out about cars. If you really don't want traffic, you shouldn't be looking in a city at all. There are plenty of suburbs that are far enough outside the city that you can have lots of space and lots of quiet.

[Anonymous]

pp makes a good point indirectly.

if buying on a "busy street" is a deal-breaker for you, be damn sure you don't buy on a secondary road, because nothing will drive you more crazy than cut-through traffic. you think you're buying a house on a quiet street and you end up with more traffic than you anticipated.

at least with the busier street, you know what you're getting.

[Anonymous]

I live in the city and that's exactly why I don't live on a busy street. The city is busy enough for me and having a home on a quieter street gives us some respite from city traffic and noise. I deal with the traffic every day and am happy to do so since I chose to live in the city. But that doesn't mean I am required to live in a house that has the same amount of traffic as major thoroughfares like Wisconsin, Western, Connecticut, or Military.

[Anonymous]

I think it depends on what kind of busy. Lots of cars that go through but slowish or cars whipping by at 35-45 MPH? if the former, it's not a big deal but the latter stinks - you have to shout over the noise when outside or if you have the windows open.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd never buy on a busy street. I've passed up lots of great houses because they are on busy streets. That's a nonnegotiable issue for me. Some people I know live in great houses on busy streets and are perfectly happy. I like to garden and sit outside and chat with my neighbors, and that's so unpleasant on a busy street with cars and exhaust fumes. Plus my child has asthma, so the air quality is much worse right on a busy street. I'd choose the smaller, cheaper house. Move up when you have more money or add on to the smaller house. You can never change the traffic noise, though; you are stuck with that forever.

Yeah, there are a few people who think this way, but they're hardly the majority.

Backwards. Any veteran realtor will tell you that their experience indeed shows that an easy majority of buyers avoid busy roads.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd never buy on a busy street. I've passed up lots of great houses because they are on busy streets. That's a nonnegotiable issue for me. Some people I know live in great houses on busy streets and are perfectly happy. I like to garden and sit outside and chat with my neighbors, and that's so unpleasant on a busy street with cars and exhaust fumes. Plus my child has asthma, so the air quality is much worse right on a busy street. I'd choose the smaller, cheaper house. Move up when you have more money or add on to the smaller house. You can never change the traffic noise, though; you are stuck with that forever.

Yeah, there are a few people who think this way, but they're hardly the majority.

Backwards. Any veteran realtor will tell you that their experience indeed shows that an easy majority of buyers avoid busy roads.

No, my vast experience doesn't bear this out. You have confirmation bias.

[Anonymous]

You should probably share with everyone how you're in a position to know the preferences of a statistically important collective of buyers. Otherwise we are forced to lump you into the big bin of anonymous Internet blatherers

[Anonymous]

I think in DC, a busy street is not a deal breaker. However, I would live on all streets discussed except for Military. They don't have big front yards so it feels like you are on the street. I would definitely live on Western and not think twice about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd never buy on a busy street. I've passed up lots of great houses because they are on busy streets. That's a nonnegotiable issue for me. Some people I know live in great houses on busy streets and are perfectly happy. I like to garden and sit outside and chat with my neighbors, and that's so unpleasant on a busy street with cars and exhaust fumes. Plus my child has asthma, so the air quality is much worse right on a busy street. I'd choose the smaller, cheaper house. Move up when you have more money or add on to the smaller house. You can never change the traffic noise, though; you are stuck with that forever.

+1

I like to be outside and am sensitive to noise and fumes, so the quieter street would always be better for our family.

[Anonymous]

On the air quality point, having cars sit in stopped traffic and/or having a route that gets a lot of buses or trucks is going to create worse air quality than a street that's busy with a steady stream of traffic but not congested.

It's a false dichotomy, albeit one that's a favorite on DCUM, that if we choose to live in the city it's unreasonable to attempt to moderate our environment in any way with regard to noise or pollutants. It's not all or nothing and OP asked about trade-offs.

[Anonymous]

I'd think about your lifestyle. We live on a semi-busy street in NOVA (yellow lined, 25 mpr, one lane each way). We don't really mind the street. For the pros, the lots are genuinely larger, and ours has a larger back yard than those on the side streets near us. We are centrally located, with a quicker walk to the metro, some stores, and the local schools. Most people hang in their back yards, so we don't feel the need to have obligatory pleasantries with people we wouldn't normally talk to but for them being our neighbors.

For the cons, drivers speed so the noise from the street is greater during commuting hours. The neighbors don't appear to be close. If you want a closer nit community then the smaller streets tend to have this dynamic. Resale value may be lower,

[Anonymous]

If it doesn't bother your family to be on a busy street, I think it is fine. You will buy for less and then sell for less. But if you ate much more comfortable because of the home/lot size - I think it makes sense. Houses on Military, Western, Reno, Nebraska and Nevada sell all the time. Like everything else in the area, often at 1M.

[Anonymous]

I agree w the PP. I would prefer to live on a busy Street and have 2 full baths upstairs then live on a quiet one w only one. Similarly, I would prefer to live on a busy street and have a finished basement then the quiet street w an unfinished basement. It's all about trade-offs. Everyone has different priorities, budgets so it is hard to give an answer. So many factors to consider.