Cul-de-sacs: Second-class citizens

The city of Naperville has between 1,100 and 1,200 cul-de-sacs, as told to me by an employee of the public works department. If you average 10 houses per cul-de-sac, a rough estimate is they make up over 20 percent of the population.

In the winter, the city treats these cul-de-sacs as second-class citizens. The city plows them last — after all other streets — assuming they actually remember to plow them at all. Over the Christmas weekend, after snow falling both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, the city decided to not plow the cul-de-sacs at all.

Houses on cul-de-sacs generally sell for more than houses on standard streets, so the average taxes paid are higher, yet the city provides second-class service to these homes in the winter.

I moved to Naperville from a suburb of Minneapolis. I lived in two different homes on cul-de-sacs. I was plowed out every morning before I left for work. The cul-de-sacs were treated as any other street. Why do we get such unacceptable service from the city of Naperville? If you agree, please write our city manager and let him know how unacceptable it is to be treated as second-class homeowners.

Steve Odden

Naperville