Why is the grid pattern so popular for building towns/cities?

Question

Why is the grid pattern so popular for building towns/cities?

Answer 1

cos then everything is straight and in line and a lot easier for people to get around

Answer 2

that's town planning in a wise way

Answer 3

They can easily sell square plots and provide infrastructure to each one. Sewerage, electricity, water etc.

Little wastage.

Of course the fact that it is the worst for those living there doesn't matter to planners. Add a one-way system and you have pure h**l, as opposed to just annoying and boring.

Only late 19th / early twentieth C. have cities have them. The age of bureaucracy.

Answer 4

The grid pattern has been used for building cities since antiquity.  Some of the earliest planned cities used grids.

Here are some of the advantages and criticisms of the grid pattern:

Financial Cost

Grid street patterns are generally considered to be less expensive than a street hierarchy plan because fewer road miles are needed to serve the same population.

The pattern minimized disputes over lot boundaries and maximized the number of lots that could front a given street. John Randal said Manhattan's grid plan facilitated "buying, selling and improving real estate".

Pedestrianism

Pedestrians have an easier time connecting to other parts of neighboring neighborhoods and commercial businesses. Obstacles such as cul-de-sacs and busy intersections with high speed traffic that hinder or discourage pedestrianism are rarely present. The grid also enhances pedestrian access to mass transit.

Safety

Recent studies have found higher traffic fatality rates in outlying suburban areas than in central cities and inner suburbs with smaller blocks and more-connected street patterns. While some of this disparity is the result of distance from emergency medical facilities (hospitals are usually built in a fairly late stage of the development of a suburban area), it is clear that the lower speeds encouraged by the frequency of intersections decrease the severity of accidents occurring on streets within a grid plan.

Reconstruction and Development

One of the greatest difficulties with grid plans is their lack of specialisation, most of the important amenities being concentrated along the city's main arteries. Often grid plans are found in linear settlements, with a main street connecting between the perpendicular roads. However, this can be mitigated by allowing mixed use development so that destinations become closer to home. Many cities, especially in Latin America, still successfully retain their grid plans. Recently, planners in the United States and Canada have revisited the idea reintroducing grid patterns to many cities and towns.