Who lives on a corner lot?

[shelly923]

So we might put a bid on a house on a corner lot. Realtor mentioned it's more dangerous for children (we have a 2 YO). I feel like this is a good place to ask and get a reality check. Thoughts?

[shakinros]

I don't live on a corner lot mostly because I don't want to shovel sidewalks on both sides! I don't think the corner lot is necessarily more dangerous. Two streets but you have to teach your kid not to run into the street anyway.

When our house was robbed a few months ago, the detective who came out told us corner houses almost never get broken into. Too much visibility. So there's a positive anecdote to balance it out?

[redhorizon343]

I think it depends on the traffic on the streets themselves. I grew up in a house on a corner lot, but one street was a cul de sac and the other led to a dead end neighborhood we played in the cul de sac routinely. .

[cleanqueen]

We do and love it. We are in a semi detached so we only have one neighbour. Yes we have to shovel the sidewalk but we do have more room.

[regal]

I would think safety depends on the fencing more than anything.

[chicagolaura]

I worry way more about how busy the streets are and the speed limit way more than if it's a corner. I would avoid a house on a busy street at all costs so two busy streets wouldn't even get me out of the car to look. A corner house on non busy streets would be nbd to me.

[roastytoasty]

My dad was a firefighter and always said we'd never live in a corner lot because there were more instances of cars driving into people's homes.

I'm not sure if he was drinking at that point or if it's a real thing...

[scarlettpanda]

We initially didn't live on a corner lot, but the city tore down the house next door, and we bought the empty land. So now we do. Our actual street is very quiet and the other street we're on is a little busier. We fenced in the yard, for the dog, and DS, and for privacy, since it was wide open. But DS still plays in our front front yard, and it doesn't seem inherently more dangerous. I think if you like the house itself enough, the corner lot wouldn't be enough to sway me out of it.

[mrsrexmanning]

My old house was on a corner lot, but both streets were dead ends, so we had next to no traffic. The only thing I didn't like is that our town had fence line setback rules, so we lost some of our backyard to those requirements.

[kristhegirl]

I live on a corner lot, one street is busier and one is very quiet. Our yard is completely fenced (actually it's a rock wall about five ft tall) so I'm unconcerned about the "dangerous" corner.

[ViolinsOnTV]

Our corner lot is in farm country with trees on the perimeter as a natural fence for our 2 yo. Also dirt roads so no sidewalks to maintain. I can't say I would like the location as much if it didn't have those things.

[Idani]

We live on a corner lot on a side street off a side street. Our yard is fenced. Our boys know the rules about roads and that they aren't allowed in the front yard/side yard without us. As long as it's not a corner home on a main busy road I wouldn't really even think about it being more dangerous I guess.

[thepardoner]

We live on a corner lot on a cul-de-sac. I love it. Only one neighbor to worry about and street traffic isn't really that bad. That said - my back yard is completely fenced. I probably would have been hesitant to buy if it hadn't been.

[kimandhuck]

We live on a corner lot. No fence, but we have trees going up the side where the 2nd road is. It's a small neighborhood, so no issues with busy roads.

My only complaint is the headlights in the windows at night, but we also have an island of azalea bushes and pine trees near the corner blocking the lights, so nbd to me.

[michelle142]

We live on a corner lot. No fence, but it's not a very busy intersection - nice and quiet, the only people usually coming and going are the people that live on our street. If it were a high traffic area (like our old house on a main highway), I would be more concerned.

[lilorangekitty]

Our last house was on a corner lot. It was out in the country, but there was still a privacy issue: I couldn't even sunbathe in my back yard privately. But, if you had a fence, it could be doable.

[numbbears]

I live on a corner lot. I've always heard corner lots are less likely to be broken into.

But as far as traffic goes with a two year old, if you have a fenced backyard, it's no big deal.

[ghostmonkey]

More dangerous? That's a new one. Both of our houses have been corner lots. The only crappy part is way more sidewalk to clear when it snows.

[k3am]

I definitely think it depends on your corner.

My pet peeve about corner lots is that, at least around here, corner houses tend to be set further back into the lot, making the front yard - which no one uses - bigger than necessary and the back yard a lot smaller.

[msdrdg]

We live on a corner. One street is pretty busy and the other is a dead end, so basically no traffic. We have a pull thru driveway and a very small yard, so no fence.
DS has always played out there just fine. I realize that my child is a bit of a unicorn in this regard but we told him where his lines are and he does not/has not/will not cross them. If your child is not a unicorn like mine is, you might want to consider a fence or you will have to be VERY careful with him/her outside playing. I only really get concerned when there is snow and I make him move his play area farther away from the main road just in case somebody slides.

[k3am]

msdrdg - your DS is my soul-brother.

When I was 3 I apparently ran away from home. My mom even helped me back a suitcase. The neighbors kept asking my mom what I was doing because I would walk from the corner to 5 houses up the street and turn around. Running away from home was really difficult when you're not allowed to turn the corner, cross the street, or go past Ricky's house.

[jess9802]

We live on a corner lot. One street is a cul-de-sac, so traffic is minimal; the other street is the main street through our subdivision, so a little busier, but not excessively so. We have a fenced backyard, so plenty of privacy. Someone tried to steal my husband's truck from our driveway two years ago (and it had been broken into before), but there aren't many streetlights in this neighborhood so our front yard/driveway are pretty dark. No other complaints about a corner lot, and I've never worried about it being more dangerous for DS.

[sjandva]

I grew up on a corner lot with no fence. The only incident we had was when some one posted a garage sale sign on the corner and some dumb ass thought it was pointing to our garage. They came in all rummaging around. My dad was all what the hell are doing.

[ghostmonkey]

Jan 29, 2015 11:00:45 GMT -5 humpty said:

Jan 29, 2015 9:36:50 GMT -5 ghostmonkey said:

More dangerous? That's a new one. Both of our houses have been corner lots. The only crappy part is way more sidewalk to clear when it snows.

I'm an asshole, I only shovel the front sidewalk.

I don't want to pay the city $200 because I didn't do both.

But we also lived on a bus route at our old house and a main path for the school now, so it's necessary.

[ghostmonkey]

Jan 29, 2015 11:06:50 GMT -5 humpty said:

Jan 29, 2015 11:03:04 GMT -5 ghostmonkey said:

I don't want to pay the city $200 because I didn't do both.

But we also lived on a bus route at our old house and a main path for the school now, so it's necessary.

Oh, if there was a fine I would do it for sure. Our city doesn't require it though and the sidewalk that I do shovel is on the street that the bus stop is on. There are at least 2-3 houses on our walk to the bus stop that haven't shoveled. Last year I had to walk in the street because I couldn't push the stroller on the sidewalk. So, I know there are benefits to shoveling, but damn I'm in a rental and I don't want to do it.  I would though if I knew the mail lady walked on the side road, but she doesn't.

I'm surprised there isn't one. Here you have 24 hours after the snow stops to get it cleared. Most people wouldn't get reported, but given where ours are located, if it was a big snow, people would complain to the city.

[pearlofwisdom]

Jan 29, 2015 7:27:52 GMT -5 regal said:

I would think safety depends on the fencing more than anything.

Yea we have a corner but a fenced in front/side yard.

[pearlofwisdom]

Jan 29, 2015 9:36:50 GMT -5 ghostmonkey said:

More dangerous? That's a new one. Both of our houses have been corner lots. The only crappy part is way more sidewalk to clear when it snows.

Yessss, th snow clearing. Omg.

[Deleted]

We live on a corner lot, one busy street (25mph speed limit) and a side street that gets little traffic. Our house is fenced, chain link in the front and a tall wood fence in the side/back. Our back yard is small, but we have a lot of space on the front/side. I like it, but we do have more snow clearing than most.

[ksyknelvr73]

Lurker chiming in here, but we live on a corner lot and we do not have a fenced yard. In addition, one side of us has a stop sign and the other does not. I don't like it AT ALL. We're currently looking into fencing, but our yard is just kind of oddly shaped and I'm not sure how well a fence will work, but we're checking into it anyway. The amount of people in our neighborhood who speed and straight up run stop signs is ridiculous.

[leroybrown]

We live on a corner lot and one street is fairly busy. We've never had a problem with the kids running into the street, and that says a lot because my 4 year old runs into traffic a lot. She just doesn't do it in our backyard.