Chiming in from Tampa --- looking at a street map of my fair Bay Area, one could very well draw the very same conclusion about street curvature and SES. Taking the immediate area of Tampa where I live (centered around the University of South Florida, bounded roughly by Bruce B. Downs on the north, 56th St. on the east, Fowler Ave. to the south and 15th St. to the west, this idea holds up:
|
Zipcode |
Pop. (2007) |
CoLI (2008) |
Med. Household Income (2008) |
% below Poverty Level (2008) |
| Seminole Heights |
33602 |
9,915 |
99.9 |
$36,023 |
34.9% |
| Seminole Heights |
33603 |
23,193 |
94.8 |
$38,853 |
21.6% |
| Sulfur Springs |
33612 |
47,567 |
97.5 |
$34,563 |
20.4% |
| 'College Ghetto' |
33613 |
33,601 |
98.2 |
$34,200 |
21.2% |
| Temple Terrace |
33617 |
44,162 |
95.5 |
$43,974 |
13.7% |
| University |
33620 |
2,803 |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
| Tampa Palms |
33647 |
29,109 |
101.7 |
$84,670 |
5.8% |
| State of Florida |
- |
18,251,243 |
100.0 |
$47,804 |
12.1% |
Seminole Heights (Zipcodes: 33603, 33604) --- another relatively low-SES neighborhood, directly to the south of Sulphur Springs. Some curves and bends here and there, but it still dominated by grids.
Sulphur Springs (Zipcode: 33612) --- a low-SES residential and commercial community about six miles to the southwest of the University. Grids all the way through, in keeping with its status as an impoverished neighborhood.
'Suitcase City' (Zipcode: 33612) --- an impoverished neighborhood to the west of the University, right across from Bruce B. Downs Blvd. The streets are in a rigid grid, with few curves and not a whole lot of trees. People are unjustly afraid to walk here at night, although that fear was eminently justified ten years ago (and sometimes still is today).
the 'College Ghetto' (Zipcode: 33613) --- the informal name for the residential neighborhood immediately to the north of the University, populated mostly by students and employees of USF, as well as the nearby University Community Hospital. The main roads going through this
area: 37th St., 42nd St., Skipper Rd. and 46th St. are straight as
arrows, but the roads branching off from them are often a crazy tangle, as they're all pretty much access roads to the dozens of apartment complexes in the area.
Temple Terrace (Zipcode: 33617) --- an incorporated town to the east of the University area, similarly populated by USF students and faculty, but not nearly as wealthy as Tampa Palms, since many, many working class families live here as well. The streets are still quite windy, but there's still a lot of the grid-based plan to be had there.
University (Zipcode: 33620) --- winding streets are the rule, and the only real straight streets are the main arteries that run through the campus: Magnolia Dr., Maple Dr. and Holly Dr. Even these streets have their kinks. Warning to drivers: this is a pretty pedestrian campus, and if you dare drive down Leroy Collins during the week, prepare to stop for roving hordes of students crossing between the east and west sides of campus. Also, there's enough speedbumps on the roads here to break axles if you're too generous with the accelerator, and they're not easily seen, especially at night.
Tampa Palms (Zipcode: 33647) --- a wealthy suburb to the northeast of the University, populated mostly by students and faculty, as well as a number of middle-class professionals. Tampa Palms Blvd. winds around in a squashed circle off from Bruce B. Downs, with numerous similarly-winding side streets branching off from it. The streets themselves are lined with trees. Nice place to go for a run, and the cycling trail's not too bad, either.
With the same intellectual humility as our comrade in the Northwest, I'd conclude the same thing from looking at a street map of the Tampa metropolitan area.