# Futzed up street names **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 22, 2001, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futzed-up-street-names/88920 "2001-10-22T19:35:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ooner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c67d28/32.png) [@Ooner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ooner)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2001, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futzed-up-street-names/88920/21 "2001-10-23T09:03:27Z")
In Reno, there is a street called King’s Row. The side streets are King Arthur, King Edward, King Charles and so on. Here in Vegas (Boulder City actually) there is a big neighborhood where all the street names are women’s names. There’s Sandra Avenue, Darlene Drive, Tiffany Road etc. ---
**Author:** ![Joyfulgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f04885/32.png) [@Joyfulgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joyfulgirl)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2001, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futzed-up-street-names/88920/22 "2001-10-23T12:24:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by goonhead \* > \*\*The street naming system here in Salt Lake (and in nearly every other Utah town, coincidentally) is confusing when you first arrive here, then after a while it makes perfect sense. Streets were laid out in a rectilinear pattern with names like 100 South, 200 South, 100 West, 200 West, etc., radiating out from some arbitrary corner (generally in the middle of downtown.) \ > \*\* It’s _very_ confusing to people when they first arrive in Utah. I once had a conversation with an out-of-state friend who wanted directions- Me: So, you just go to 800 North and turn right, then… Them: 800 North? What’s it called? Me: 800 North. Most streets are named according to their location. So it’s called 800 North. Them: Yeah, but what’s it CALLED? Me: Sigh. In Springville, which is just south of me, someone must’ve run out of good ideas for street names because they have A street, B street, C street, etc. If that weren’t bad enough, I think they repeated them. And just you _try_ to find B from A. [sup]BTW, welcome to the boards **goonhead**. It’s always good to see more Utah dopers.[/sup] ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2001, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futzed-up-street-names/88920/23 "2001-10-23T12:49:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kinsey \* > \*\*I was just at the teacher’s resource center today, and all the street leading to the school are “Oaks”, as in Black Oak Road, White Oak Road, Water Oak Road. > \*\* Oh my goodness!! That’s the neighborhood of my misspent youth!! And in the midst of all those Oaks, I lived on Amuskai Road!! > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by PlanMan \* > **In one subdivision here we have Tinkerbell, Peter Pan, Miss Muffet, Goldilocks, Jack Horner, Bo Peep, Christopher Robin, Looking Glass, and so on.** You beat me to the punch on this one. I’d have avoided that neighborhood just so I wouldn’t have to tell everyone I live on Miss Muffet Lane South. What were they thinking?? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2001, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futzed-up-street-names/88920/24 "2001-10-23T13:00:10Z")
I think Bergen County New Jersey must have had streets before the boroughs and towns and cities were established. It is very confusing. Some examples: We have a curvy road called Roosevelt. I found out that legally it is West Roosevelt, East Roosevelt and South Roosevelt. All for a one block curve. Several streets run from Englewood to Teaneck. To keep them separate in the tax maps, Teaneck spells them differently, though they are the street and the street signs are spelled the same (i.e. Shepard becomes Sheppard). Stupid! And then there’s Grand Avenue becoming Engle Street in the middle of Englewood. Does any other place have something like that? ---
**Author:** ![caveman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caveman/32/7242_2.png) [@caveman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caveman)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2001, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futzed-up-street-names/88920/25 "2001-10-23T13:05:24Z")
Some examples from Austin, Texas In several locations, X St., which invariably intersects Old X St. (Ex.: Manchaca at Old Manchaca, near my house) In a subdivision to the south of our own, all the streets are named for characters in Chaucer’s _Canturbury Tales_. The name of the subdivision? Cantubury Trails. Our own subdivision, named Saddlewood (which noone knows the definition of: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=92741](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=92741) ), has a number of hard-to-pronounce and -spell gems, such as Garbacz, Marshitah, and Curameng. Also in city limits, a court named Alimony. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2001, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futzed-up-street-names/88920/26 "2001-10-23T13:17:34Z")
I work in the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) department for County Government. Part of our responsibility is street names. We double check new developments to make sure they have not picked names that already exist in the county. You would not believe how developers whine and complain when we tell them that a name is already taken. Very often they try to go over our heads to the County Commissioners. At that point we have to get emergency services involved. That’s the real issue. Duplicate names cause confusion, and could cause a life. Still the developers complain and bitch. Subdivision names cause the same problem. Very often they have already done there marketing before they check on a valid name. ---
**Author:** ![Cougarfang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c67d28/32.png) [@Cougarfang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cougarfang)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2001, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futzed-up-street-names/88920/27 "2001-10-23T13:24:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by furt \* > \*\*Taipei. > > At different times, four different systems have been used to romanize the Chinese street names for the benefit of foreigners. It’s even a political issue; new mayor, new romanization system. > > Chongchen Lu > Zhongchen Lu > Chungchen Lu > Jongjen Lu > > They’re all the same street. Repeat the same process for every street in the entire city, make sure to add lots of intersections with odd angles, add then just shoot yourself. > > [sub](Of course, I suspect it’s all a devious attempt to force you to learn to read the characters … but God help the tourists.) [/sub] \*\* _snicker, snicker, snicker_ well, i can read the characters, so it’s really not a problem with me. but, when the Big Mom has to escort the Little Boy’s foreign teacher around, it gets to be a big headache. Also, the fact that Chinese (Mandarin, Cantonese, Taiwanese, whatever) uses “stressed” characters that have basically the same sound apart from the stress (i.e. Chinese “homophones” and “homonyms”) can get to be a bigger headache. good thing cats know their way around instinctively… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![GrizzRich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7ba0ec/32.png) [@GrizzRich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrizzRich)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2001, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futzed-up-street-names/88920/28 "2001-10-23T13:52:51Z")
In Palm Coast FL, where my parents-in-law reside, the streets are grouped together by letter of the alphabet. For instance, my in-laws live in “the W’s”. Streets there are West Cedar, West Pine, Westmore, Williams, etc. It’s not uncommon to hear someone say that they “live in the R’s.” ---
**Author:** ![sidle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@sidle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sidle)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2001, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futzed-up-street-names/88920/29 "2001-10-23T15:11:50Z")
In Charleston, SC, we have a bedroom community that has a wood themed neighborhood. Elmwood Dr, Oakwood, Hardwood, Kindlewood, Pinewood. Apparently they ran out of ideas, because there is also a Mixedwood Dr. Pretty goofy! Also, we have a NAD Rd. It’s on the way to the Naval Weapons Station, so it gets backed up and constantly mentioned on the am traffic report. They all call it “N. A. D.” Road; saying each letter separately. Who are they trying to kid? ---
**Author:** ![Kilt-wearin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kilt-wearin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilt-wearin_man)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2001, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futzed-up-street-names/88920/30 "2001-10-23T16:51:02Z")
Hey, Caveman - you forgot some of my favorite Austin headache-inducing road names…for example: In South Austin, you have 1st thru 6th streets running North/South. Downtown, you have a completely unrelated set of 1st thru 6th streets runnign East/West. Highway 183 makes a 90-degree turn outside Austin and runs east to west through the city. So, going north on 183 takes you West out of town. Of course, you have to make sure you know where you are so you can tell if that part of 183 is also Anderson Lane, Ed Bluestein Blvd, or Research Blvd… Then there’s the MoPac expressway, which parallels the Missouri Pacific railroad for a few miles…everyone calls it “MoPac” and gives directions accordingly. All of the street signs refer to it by its “official” name, Loop 1. This makes life very hard for newcomers - my wife hated it. Now I live north of Dallas, and all I have to deal with (so far) is Park Blvd, which is a block over from Parker Rd, which is also near the Plano Parkway… ---
**Author:** ![Big\_G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e4f/32.png) [@Big\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Big_G)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2001, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futzed-up-street-names/88920/31 "2001-10-23T16:59:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by GrizzRich \* > \*\*In Palm Coast FL, where my parents-in-law reside, the streets are grouped together by letter of the alphabet. > For instance, my in-laws live in “the W’s”. Streets there are West Cedar, West Pine, Westmore, Williams, etc. > > It’s not uncommon to hear someone say that they “live in the R’s.” \*\* Same situation in Newark, DE. There is are two subdivisions built by the same developer, across the road from each other. In both subdivisions, all the streets start with K. I have no idea what they are actually called, we just call them big K and little K. And then down the street is another subdivision where all the streets start with M. -G ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2001, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futzed-up-street-names/88920/32 "2001-10-23T17:56:35Z")
there is a subdivision in vegas with sports names: superbowl, stanley cup, world series and a bunch of others. they must have run out, cause they called one of the streets “wheeties way” after the fucking cereal! by the way, this is very near the place with the king arthour stuff too, but i don’t know if its the same one mentioned earlier. they got streets like sir gallahad, sir nobel, blah blah blah. i now live in a place with all streets named after peoples first names. probably the developers kids or something… also, in reno, they have bowling alley and line drive. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2001, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futzed-up-street-names/88920/33 "2001-10-23T18:10:05Z")
Denver city has a very cool nameing system. Numbered streets going east west, and alphabtical streets north south. The big problem is the suburbs like Highlands Ranch they pick one stupid name for each little zone like Lynx Trail and drive it into the ground. So you have Lynx Trail street, which intersects Lynx Trail Drive, Lynx Trail Lane, Lynx Trail Path, Lynx Trail Circle and Lynx Trail Court. And of course being a suburban hell none of the streets are allowed to go straight for more than ten feet. You end up getting Directions like this. "Take Lynx Trail Boulevard to Lynx trail street and take a left, Go past Lynx trail Court and Lynx Trail Path. You will come to Lynx Trail court again. Take a right, and curve around to Lynx Trail Lane where you take another right. You are back on Lynx Trail Street, but it will soon turn into Woodpecker road where you look for the Corner of Woodpecker Road and Lynx Trail circle. ---
**Author:** ![dubbele](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bc8723/32.png) [@dubbele](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dubbele)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2001, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futzed-up-street-names/88920/34 "2001-10-23T18:18:03Z")
I think the city with the worst street names is Minneapolis. They have numbers, like 30th Street NE, NW, etc. This would be great, but nobody seemed to have a compass when they laid out the streets. They appear correct if you assume the Mississippi river fows due south. Unfortunately, it flows east through much of Minnesota, so all the names are 90 degrees off! ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2001, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futzed-up-street-names/88920/35 "2001-10-23T21:02:10Z")
**Pipeliner** , Calgary’s street naming system may have its flaws, but it is the easiest city to navigate in that I’ve ever lived in. The entire city is divided into 4 quadrants (NE, NW, SW and SE, which are geographically correct); once I’m in the right quadrant, I find it very easy to get around here (even in the single-letter suburbs). Speaking of funny street names, there’s a street in Saskatoon called Rusholme, and it intersects with Avenue P. Yes, that’s right - the corner of Rusholme and P (say it out loud if you don’t get it =). ---
**Author:** ![OxyMoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9a140/32.png) [@OxyMoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OxyMoron)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2001, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futzed-up-street-names/88920/36 "2001-10-23T22:01:00Z")
Any of you ever been to Queens? It’s truly horrendous - for almost every number, there’s a Road and Street, and often a Drive to boot; sometimes they’re right next to each other (but then again, sometimes they aren’t); sometimes they run parallel to one another (but then again, sometimes they don’t). Plus, the whole numbering thing only started after Queens was absorbed into NYC 100 years ago, so lots of the numbered streets have names - which the Post Office supposedly doesn’t use anymore, but which still appear on subway stations and transit maps so people still use 'em. ---
**Author:** ![Kilt-wearin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kilt-wearin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilt-wearin_man)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2001, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futzed-up-street-names/88920/37 "2001-10-24T16:57:34Z")
Almost forgot - my favorite set of street names (in a neighborhood off North Lamar in Austin, right on the edge of some really scary neighborhoods…) are named after Mercury and Gemini astronauts (with Chuck Yeager thrown in for kicks). One day I drove up Carpenter to Shepard, past Grissom and Glenn, turned on Yeager and went past Cooper to Schirra…(I might have the order wrong, I was just driving around to see who all had streets named after 'em) Maybe the planning committe got bored and rented “The Right Stuff”? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2001, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futzed-up-street-names/88920/38 "2001-10-24T18:58:23Z")
Parts of Bramalea, Ontario (a 1960s ‘planned community’–i.e. suburb) are named by alphabet letter as well. The developers filled in the square grid formed by the pre-development concession roads with suburban streets, and blessed each square with a different letter. People would just say, ‘I’m from the J section’, ‘He lives in the K section’, and so on. That is almost normal compared to some of the names in the suburbs of Toronto. For example, south of Steeles Avenue between Leslie Street and Highway 404, there are: Song Meadoway, Low Meadoway, Burnt Meadoway, and Grass Meadoway, all off Freshmeadow Drive near Yellow Birchway. Nearby are Jenny Wrenway, Water Wheelway, Purple Sageway, Paul Markway, English Ivyway, and Spanish Mossway. There are pockets of these names all through the northern suburbs. No wonder the crime rate is rising; I’d have an attitude too, if I lived on “Jenny Wrenway”. Then there’s Old Cummer Avenue (and commuter-train station). “Yes, I picked her up at Old Cummer…” :eek: ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Gazoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@The\_Great\_Gazoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Gazoo)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2001, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futzed-up-street-names/88920/39 "2001-10-24T21:47:51Z")
Which is worse, living on NAD Road or living on Antrax Boulevard??? ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2001, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futzed-up-street-names/88920/40 "2001-10-24T23:20:05Z")
Many of the streets in my town were named after the children of prominant local families. You’ll find one street with the family surname, then a cluster of streets with names from within that family (like Marie Street, Gordon Street, Philip Street, etc). My father used to work for the Stoddart family, and his bosses Jimmy and Doug had James Parade and Douglas Parade named after them. My friend who lives in a nearby town lived in a small street called King Avenue. Whenever he ordered pizza, they would try to deliver it to King George The Fifth Jubilee Avenue, the main road running into the town. All the streets around mine are named after birds (Brolga Blvd, Swallow Gve, Bellbird Wy), while where my mother lives they’re named after plants. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futzed-up-street-names/88920.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futzed-up-street-names/88920.md?page=3)