>
>- if a shortcut through a neighborhood was actually faster or shorter than driving main streets, then there'd be a lot of traffic, which would bring pollution, noise and number of accidents up, and the value of houses down
>
>- everyone wants to drive everywhere they want, but nobody wants everybody else to drive through their street - they all want to live in a quiet neighborhood

In the UK we refer to these "short-cuts" as rat-runs
>
>- therefore, a dead end street is something desirable. Look at this: http://maps.google.com/?ll=36.831684,-76.083627&spn=0.009377,0.012016
>Or, a mile south:
>http://maps.google.com/?ll=36.809714,-76.088026&spn=0.00938,0.012016 - just try to count the dead ends. Or find a straight street :).

That looks like a maze worthy of an English stately home estate. A lot of new housing developments in England are like that - those 'burbs where you can never find your friend's house

This is the area you live in?