Anonymous wrote:If you lived on a busy road, does your mind start to tune out the noise?

Does road traffic wake you up in the middle of the night?

it's not just about noise though, this impacts your overall heath.

Anonymous wrote:Answering on behalf of my ILs in Fairfax Co;

because when we moved here 43 years ago, our street wasn’t a cut through and therefore no need for a double line.

Herein lies the problem. There are too many streets, in certain areas, that lack sidewalks. The residents walk in the middle of the street, endangering themselves and their children. There are residential streets that necessitate a double yellow line, but the residents fight it. So many of the residential streets are cut throughs in recent decades, there is no excuse for lack of sidewalks.

To answer OP's question, busy streets have a lower price tag, but cut through streets are often not known until you move in and experience the issues (see above) yourself.

Anonymous wrote:We were young and had only lived in noisy apartments up until that point, so noise was not even a consideration. Fortunately we sold while the market was hot and now live somewhere much quieter.

Similar. We moved from a large city to a small town. We rented a place on a road seemed sleepy and quiet. Fast forward a few years of living in that small town, and we we developed a new perspective- the road that once appeared “sleepy and quiet” was a busy thoroughfare with much higher speeds than other area roads.
Once we were able, we moved out and rented a different place.

A similar shift happened with our notion of “the yard” the first place had a green patch so we were excited the kids could explore a bit versus the next place which included a bigger space where adults could relax and kids could really run around without constant supervision.

If you lived on a busy road, does your mind start to tune out the noise?

Does road traffic wake you up in the middle of the night?

Answering on behalf of my ILs in Fairfax Co;

because when we moved here 43 years ago, our street wasn’t a cut through and therefore no need for a double line.

Anonymous wrote:
Part of it for me is how people drive. In the US, our roads are designed to move traffic along, rather than to protect pedestrian safety. Also, there are a lot of bad and rude drivers who like to honk at the slightest thing, or speed without regard to safety or the neighbors.

If drivers were more pedestrian-friendly and if drivers were more considerate, I might have considered it.

So you'd buy a house abutting the Autostrade if you moved to Italy?

We live on a a busy road in Fairfax County - but we have five acres of land and plenty of parking and room to turn around. Love it! We don't like congestion nor neighbors getting into our business.

Part of it for me is how people drive. In the US, our roads are designed to move traffic along, rather than to protect pedestrian safety. Also, there are a lot of bad and rude drivers who like to honk at the slightest thing, or speed without regard to safety or the neighbors.

If drivers were more pedestrian-friendly and if drivers were more considerate, I might have considered it.

Anonymous wrote:I always wondered the same. This house in Arlington for example is about 100 feet from 17 lanes (!!) of highway if you include all the ramps. https://redf.in/4qQgFU

Oh my. As in, I audibly gasped when I looked at the map on the listing page.

Our house is much bigger and on a much bigger lot being on a “busy” road (only two lanes but a lot of traffic in the mornings). The side streets in our neighborhood don’t have any lots similar in size. I also didn’t like the idea having to park on a narrow side street. We have a proper driveway with turnaround spot.

Our kids don’t play in the front and it’s not an issue.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always wondered the same. This house in Arlington for example is about 100 feet from 17 lanes (!!) of highway if you include all the ramps. https://redf.in/4qQgFU

That house is a dead end with near zero traffic in front of house

Then why has it sat on the market for 54 days even after multiple price reductions?

Who knows, but this is certainly not on a busy road, which is what OP was asking. Whoever owns that house will have no problems exiting their driveway.

The most important factors to many buyers are road noise (which makes sitting in your backyard unpleasant and may be bothersome indoors) and health (numerous studies show living next to a very busy road, especially within 300 feet, increases risk of respiratory diseases).

So it’s less about whether the driveway exits onto a busy road and more about very close proximity to a busy road.

We lived between two highways across from some railroad tracks because that’s where the zoned land we needed for our project was located. When we finally moved our top criteria was quiet. Wouldn’t even look at anything near a busy road let alone on one. You don’t know how exhausting it is until you do it and you’ll never do it again! Tried to tell a family member before they bought their place and they said theirs wasn’t as busy so not comparable and then hated it, they were warned! For them it was budget.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always wondered the same. This house in Arlington for example is about 100 feet from 17 lanes (!!) of highway if you include all the ramps. https://redf.in/4qQgFU

That house is a dead end with near zero traffic in front of house

There is lots of noise from the freeways,yes ,ssss

That’s not what this thread is about.

I'm surprised at the question: people get the house that's available and that they can afford. Sometimes it's not on the ideal street.

I ended up on a side-street, just two houses back from a busy double-yellow. While I'd love to be an additional block away, it's nice that I don't have to drive a long way to reach a main road and get where I'm going. We are also plowed promptly in snow, and power is restored promptly in the rare event it goes out. There are sidewalks and streetlights, and with passing traffic I feel pretty safe being out at night.

I don't need a circular drive on my side-street, but I notice that almost all the houses facing the double-yellow have them, so that they don't need to back out. (Yes, suburbs.)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always wondered the same. This house in Arlington for example is about 100 feet from 17 lanes (!!) of highway if you include all the ramps. https://redf.in/4qQgFU

That house is a dead end with near zero traffic in front of house

Then why has it sat on the market for 54 days even after multiple price reductions?

Who knows, but this is certainly not on a busy road, which is what OP was asking. Whoever owns that house will have no problems exiting their driveway.