NationStates Jolt Archive

I was thinking about American street names, characterised by numbers in towns/cities, and thinking whether this takes away any of the character you associate to a street or whether the name is used in the same way. And, does it in fact help with navigating around? I don't know how they arrange it. In England it seems like you only deserve to be invited in to someone's house once you've driven halfway round the village looking for the road name or the road even if it's hidden. It's all part of the fun.

If you'd built a road, what would you call it? Would you follow naming conventions or go for something unusual?

At least where I live it seems like the numbers are only downtown or at least somewhere in the city. They do help with getting around, I think, but I haven't really had to drive there yet, at least not at any time where I didn't know exactly where I was supposed to go. But here in the suburbs they seem to be mostly named after plants and other random things...

Japan doesn't believe in street names. It also doesn't believe in house numbers being consecutive or even making sense.

This makes it a challenge to locate anything and results in directions that are more about a treasure hunt of land marks.

The city I live in (which is also the city I learned to drive in way back in the day) is set up for the most part on a grid system. Everything north of a certain street is north, everything south of it is south, everything east of a certain street is east and everything west of it is west. Nearly all of the north/south running streets have names, and nearly all of the east/west running streets have numbers unless you get back into a newer neighborhood then you have curvy name streets.

I know then for example if someone wants me to pick them up from 3950 NW 49th then I know exactly where they are. There is no guess work. If someone is at a business at 4200 N Portland, I know they are at 42nd and Portland.

It's pretty easy until you get into the outlying areas and suburbs that were built after 1980 then it's a mess.

If I get to move into my house that is being built, we get to name the street. We haven't decided on a name yet. The state has named the street "country road....blah, blah, blah" but we have permission from them to give it our own name as long as the signs also read "country road....blah,blah,blah", whatever we name it has to be approved by the city counsel, so we are trying to pick something appropriate.

In New York City many of the older streets (particularly on the southern end of Manhattan) go every which way, and finding your way around can be fun.

But as to the character of numbered streets, anyone who lives in NYC knows that the flavor of 42nd Street is vastly different than that of 96th, for instance. If you tell someone the number of the street you live on, very often it is easy to get an immediate idea of what the neighborhood is like.

Once you get into the other boroughs (Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and especially Staten Island) it is impossible to find your way around unless you live there. And, although there are numbered streets there too, the named streets give a better clue to what the neighborhood is.

no it doesnt ruin the character of a street to be able to find it.

most US cities are set up on a grid system or some other easy to figure out system. its for the benefit of emergency services. that way its easier for the ambulance to get to your house before you are dead.

modern pseudo-ambling subdivisions have a harder time fitting into the system but they do their best.

Road naming conventions here are indeed odd. The city I live in right now (pop 30.000 or so) has no "number" roads, but the village I grew up in (pop 400) did.

Another naming convention that is used only in Michigan, as far as I know, is the Mile Road system.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mile_Road_System_%28Detroit%29

In Toronto streets are known to randomly change names without warning. This is due to the city once being many smaller cities prior to the forced amalgamation brought in by the Harris government.

Just because you live on Avenue Rd. (yes, this is really a street here. If you don't believe me, look it up) doesn't mean your neighbour three doors down will; they may very well live on University Ave.

Of course, the overall creativity gets better. We've got Progress Ave, Citation Rd... and many, many other wonderfully creative names. :rolleyes:

The fun doesn't end there! Bloor E and Bloor W go into other subdivisions of the GTA. Bloor's numbering system starts all over when you get to Missasauga, so better hope the person gave you damn good directions. Or that when they say "Yonge" they add the street type after it because we've not only got a Yonge Street (main throughfare), but there is a Yonge Boulevard (which funnily enough intersects Yonge Street).

In New York City many of the older streets (particularly on the southern end of Manhattan) go every which way, and finding your way around can be fun.

But as to the character of numbered streets, anyone who lives in NYC knows that the flavor of 42nd Street is vastly different than that of 96th, for instance. If you tell someone the number of the street you live on, very often it is easy to get an immediate idea of what the neighborhood is like.

Once you get into the other boroughs (Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and especially Staten Island) it is impossible to find your way around unless you live there. And, although there are numbered streets there too, the named streets give a better clue to what the neighborhood is.

You have to remember that NYC started being built with the Dutch settlers sometime in the 1600s, and that some of the streets started out as cow paths! That's why they wind and laugh at the grid system later imposed on the city.

Manhattan is probably the easiest borough to get around -- their grid is pretty grid-like above the Battery. Brooklyn, you need to know a few main arteries to know how to get crosstown fast. Staten Island is STILL being developed (crazy!) but even this poor Brooklyn girl has figured out how to get from Bay Street to Forest Avenue through the streets.

:-D And Queens and the Bronx are when I pull out the GPS system.

There are actual street names -- Quentin Road, Dahill Road, Lake Street, Broadway, Lafayette Street, Prince Street, Gerittsen Avenue -- Number roads (which in Queens gets confusing -- you'll have 31st Avenue, followed immediately by 31st Road, 31st Circle, and 31st Street) -- and Alphabet Soup (Avenue C, Avenue D). Contrary to what the play title tells you, there IS no Avenue Q (I suppose it would sound too much like Avenue U.)

I love driving through small towns in the US -- many of them have these streets: Main Street, Market Street, Church Street, First Street Second Street, Third Street. Catchy little tune! :-D

I'm quite amused Colchester has a Stalin road. However, I must confess I prefer road names to numbers; one cannot very well wonder what caused a street to be named "4th Avenue" as much as one can for "East Magdalen street".

Where I live, the whole Metro area is almost based off a grid system. There is a first street all the way up to 101st, prgoressing from south to north. The streets going from east to west start at some letter in the alphabet, and then progress in some kind of alphabetical order.

But what makes them really fun is when you when someone tells you somehting like "turn left on 72nd", because there are several different 72nds in the same area (ex. 72nd Ave., 72nd Dr., 72nd St., etc...)

My city is mostly a grid system. Streets that run north to south are named, and streets that run east to west are usually (but not always) numbered. But there are oddities. Some streets run diagonal to the grid, and some streets change names. Some east-west streets are named in a small area and numbered outside that area.

Boston doesn't really ever use numbers. Around the pru area (Prudential tower and Newbury St.), the names of the cross streets go in alphabetical order.

My home town has no conventions...we have "four rod road", which is (amazingly enough), 4 rods long. Old Brickyard Lane goes, shockingly, around the old brickyard. things like that

You have to remember that NYC started being built with the Dutch settlers sometime in the 1600s, and that some of the streets started out as cow paths! That's why they wind and laugh at the grid system later imposed on the city.

Manhattan is probably the easiest borough to get around -- their grid is pretty grid-like above the Battery. Brooklyn, you need to know a few main arteries to know how to get crosstown fast. Staten Island is STILL being developed (crazy!) but even this poor Brooklyn girl has figured out how to get from Bay Street to Forest Avenue through the streets.

:-D And Queens and the Bronx are when I pull out the GPS system.

There are actual street names -- Quentin Road, Dahill Road, Lake Street, Broadway, Lafayette Street, Prince Street, Gerittsen Avenue -- Number roads (which in Queens gets confusing -- you'll have 31st Avenue, followed immediately by 31st Road, 31st Circle, and 31st Street) -- and Alphabet Soup (Avenue C, Avenue D). Contrary to what the play title tells you, there IS no Avenue Q (I suppose it would sound too much like Avenue U.)

I love driving through small towns in the US -- many of them have these streets: Main Street, Market Street, Church Street, First Street Second Street, Third Street. Catchy little tune! :-D

And of course, my favorite intersection in NY is where West 4th St. crosses West 11th St. For that to be interesting to anyone else, you need to know that basically in NYC, the numbered streets run north-south, while the numbered avenues run east-west. So to have two numbered streets cross makes the whole thing a lot of fun.

Plus there are some good bars in the West 4th/West 11th intersection area.


I don't remember what town it was in, but somewhere I ran across a Broadway Ave., which I thought was funny.

I don't remember what town it was in, but somewhere I ran across a Broadway Ave., which I thought was funny.

Was it Toronto? We have a Broadway Ave and there is nothing good on it.

Was it Toronto? We have a Broadway Ave and there is nothing good on it.

It may well have been in Toronto. And I don't remember if it was good or not, but it was funny.

I think an actual name might actually reduce the character of Austin Texas' 6th Street

Road naming conventions here are indeed odd. The city I live in right now (pop 30.000 or so) has no "number" roads, but the village I grew up in (pop 400) did.

Another naming convention that is used only in Michigan, as far as I know, is the Mile Road system.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mile_Road_System_%28Detroit%29

Yeah, I just went on vacation to Michigan for about a week. I thought that was very interesting.

Japan doesn't believe in street names. It also doesn't believe in house numbers being consecutive or even making sense.

This makes it a challenge to locate anything and results in directions that are more about a treasure hunt of land marks.

That must be hell if you work for FedEx or UPS...

I was thinking about American street names, characterised by numbers in towns/cities, and thinking whether this takes away any of the character you associate to a street or whether the name is used in the same way. And, does it in fact help with navigating around? I don't know how they arrange it. In England it seems like you only deserve to be invited in to someone's house once you've driven halfway round the village looking for the road name or the road even if it's hidden. It's all part of the fun.

If you'd built a road, what would you call it? Would you follow naming conventions or go for something unusual?

I saw a road in Pennsylvania once called Street Road. :D

It does kinda make sense for the grid system that a lot of cities have. Although, does this system actually reduce traffic?

There's a road near me called Straight Bit that is nowhere near straight :p

back in jersey all the roads have french names except in the town. trying to spell La Grande Route de la Cote (it's a long road, you're not going to find me) down the phone to a mail order company in England can get quite tiring.

I think an actual name might actually reduce the character of Austin Texas' 6th Street

Yeah. I know in the early days of Austin most of the numbered streets downtown (the east-west streets) were named after trees in Texas, like Pecan, Oak, etc.

But in Austin, the numbered streets are in downtown and Central Austin, and go up to 57th Street or so. But really, the only streets that actually go anywhere are in downtown. Although, Austin does have an annoying habit of having like 4 names for major roads (Loop 1 is also known as MoPac, Burnet Road, and FM 1325 in some places).

As for the character of the streets, the one that really has any character is 6th Street, as that is Party Central. The streets that are named after rivers in Texas (north-south) have more character, such as The Drag on Guadalupe Street (western edge of University of Texas) and SoCo on South Congress Ave.

Oh, my country hates numbered names. We all like to give our streets with all sorts of names - flowers and plants, people, animals, gemstones, fictional characters, personalities, other places, and even adjectives that were seemed to be just pulled out of someone's arse. (Try living in a place whose name translates to "Wet" or "Secretive"; or live in Afghanistan Street, and Iraq Street)

And they like to change it often to their liking, perhaps your street name would change depending on the name of the mother of the currently sitting mayor. And then, the populace would act as if the name didn't change - they'd still use old names.

Town I went to highschool in had a few interesting ones. We had Cotton Picking Ln. in town and just outside of town we had Nameless Rd. On the old maps of the area Nameless was listed as such because no one had gotten around to naming it. Then it stuck and that became the official name.

there's a small residential area in my town with roads named after World War II leaders. There's a Churchill road, a Montgomery road, a Roosevelt road, and.... a Stalin road. I kid you not. :rolleyes:

Town I went to highschool in had a few interesting ones. We had Cotton Picking Ln. in town and just outside of town we had Nameless Rd. On the old maps of the area Nameless was listed as such because no one had gotten around to naming it. Then it stuck and that became the official name.

In Arizona once I saw "Silly Mountain Rd." it was so funny.

In Arizona once I saw "Silly Mountain Rd." it was so funny.I hear Arizona has some pretty odd names. Including a mountain called Nelly's Nipple.

The city I used to live in started out with a main street named Main Street (which became Magnolia somewhere along the line) Magnolia-Main crossed Fourteenth which then became Pennsylvania (at a point where Pennsylvania divided off from fourteenth) which in Turn became Martin Luther King Blvd. which in turn became Sycamore Canyon Road. The streets going in one direction are numbered consecutively, but they also have names - so 8th Street is also University Avenue. The streets perpendicular to those are named for citrus. Alessandro, which becomes Central, crosses Chicago which becomes Arlington. And there's a 5 way intersection downtown which confuses everyone, even those who've lived there forever. The only street that stays the same is Victoria. Even the freeways are confusing (especially now that the state is "fixing" them). I won't even begin to try to explain them, it makes my brain hurt.

Then there's Wong Way.

I hear Arizona has some pretty odd names. Including a mountain called Nelly's Nipple.
Here, we also have a mountain whose name translates to "Maiden's Breasts".

Here, we also have a mountain whose name translates to "Maiden's Breasts".Evidently the guys in Arizona are less gentlemanly and actually identify said maiden.

My city is one massive grid, even the sidestreets. They do have names past South Chicago but once you learn the major streets its easy. You can even use the street numbers to say...figure out how far west/east something is on an east/west street.

If people hear 3014 Belmont they know "hey, its this far west."

Evidently the guys in Arizona are less gentlemanly and actually identify said maiden.
But ours included the entire thing, not just 'em nipples. ;)

But ours included the entire thing, not just 'em nipples. ;)Just think though.If Nelly's Nipples make a mountain,her whole boob would be....wow...like the Himalayas.

The US always used a grid system in the majority of cities. That is probably more so as got away from the East coast because of the ages of the cities vs the Western US cities. This makes travel far easier then the older European cities.
As far as the numbered street system goes it makes it much easier to find things over a named based road network. In fact in the mid 80's many named roads were given a number to make it easier for the emerging 911 system. This by far made things easier for emergency crews and the general public at large to get around.

I was thinking about American street names, characterised by numbers in towns/cities, and thinking whether this takes away any of the character you associate to a street or whether the name is used in the same way. And, does it in fact help with navigating around? I don't know how they arrange it. In England it seems like you only deserve to be invited in to someone's house once you've driven halfway round the village looking for the road name or the road even if it's hidden. It's all part of the fun.

If you'd built a road, what would you call it? Would you follow naming conventions or go for something unusual?

Most cities had a grid until about 30-40 years ago. Then for some reason they decided every street needed to be a dead end or at least crooked.

Now most residential streets are named for what they killed to build the houses--- Deer run, Pheasant Drive, Lone Oak, Prairie View....... etc.

Here roads are generally named in Portuguese. (I suppose that works as the local language is Portuguese.) Just to confuse you though, every so often there is a road named after an American president (chosen at random apparently).