Pros and cons of living at the end of a dead end road

[RedNeckGeek]

One thing I haven't seen mentioned is access to your property by emergency services. A few years ago ISO changed the rules for their property protection zones, shortening the distance from your property to the nearest fire station that is staffed 24x7x365. As a result many found that they are charged higher fire insurance rates or can't get insurance at all. If closing that bridge lengthens the drive for the firemen, you may find yourself in the same boat.

If you live in wildfire country, it's good to have more than one way out because a fire may block your ability to flee.

I've lived at the end of a county maintained paved road off a cul-de-sac, and have run up against most of the problems others have mentioned. I've had drunks drive off the road and into the ditch, drugged out meth heads blocking the driveway, partiers leaving trash, and "broken down" people calling the house (the "emergency" contact info is on the gate) asking for water, a jump start, etc. I just offer to call the sheriff for them, or AAA, but I'm NOT walking down alone into an ambush. An electric gate was a big improvement, and recently I've added remote driveway alarms that let me know if someone has hopped the gate.

Otherwise, the privacy and peace and quite are exactly what I was looking for when I bought the place, and have been worth the small amount of trouble in return.

 

[soilsailor]

You have a good point regarding timeliness of fire department arrival and wildfire escape routes Redneck.

Fortunately, at worse we have the relatively rare grass fire and the closest fire department is not impeded by the closure.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

My dead end road story.

About 23 years ago...
Taking the wife on an exploratory trip, looking for possible place to fish. On the map, I find a dead end road that ends at the river. We get on my Yamaha dual purpose XT600 and take off. The pavement turns to gravel and we proceed, a public road all the way to the end. When we get near the end, I'm doing about 20 mph in the gravel, and to my right about 150 yards away is a haggard looking old frame home. In a split second, there is a pack of pit bulls racing our way, tearing up the grass with each gait, By the grace of God, I was able to slow down enough and spin it around (with my wife on back) and get going, just a few feet ahead of snarling dogs. PITBULL DOGS.

After our heartbeats came back down to earth, I told my wife I had a mind to go back, entice them to chase me again solo, and blast all 3 or 4 of them to death. I can't actually say why I did not. Maybe because it would have been hard to carry my Remington 1100, straddled across my seat, and have to make the "donut" spin in the gravel. One of those new triple tube defense shotguns would do the trick nowadays.

Somebody who would let their dogs attack me on a public road, deserves to have them die. There is a thing called fencing.