The biggest creator of our leaves is our neighbor on the west, behind us, but we do appreciate the shade of his trees in the summer. Living in a neighborhood where the houses are so close together, the winds create their own wind tunnels between the houses...doesn't really make a lot of difference about the prevailing direction.
The town runs a truck around that sucks up piles of leaves, so most people rake them to the street for the town to pick up. This creates a problem with the sewer grates getting clogged up on the streets tho. We keep the grate in front of our house clean and free of debris, but most people don't bother...then they blame the town when their streets flood. I hate city living!