# Messed-up Street names **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 5, 2002, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/messed-up-street-names/112430 "2002-06-05T02:43:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Road\_Rash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@Road\_Rash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Road_Rash)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2002, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/messed-up-street-names/112430/1 "2002-06-05T02:43:37Z")
What are some nieghborhood planners thinking? Some don’ts in street names which too often get ignored. 1. Using the subdivision’s name in each street name. Say the subdivision is named “Brookside,” then each street has “brook” in its name (A fictious example that has too many real life counterparts). “Rolling Brook.” “lazy Brook.” “Shadow Brook.” What the hell are they thinking. Maybe that its cute? Bullshit! It is just confusing. Themes are fine. Names of flowers, trees, Universities are fine. Just make them different. 1. North/South that really go east-west. Waco Tx. if I recall was like this. 1. Different streets that have the same name. Not just streets that stop, then return a little later, that may some day be connected. Houston has several, including Campbell, Clay, Rice. The 2 Rice’s are actually not far from each other. One goes n/s, the other e/w. 2. Several streets with the same name, but different identifiers, such as ave., blvd, place, park. If you are looking for an address in Houston on Post Oak, you better qualify it, for there are about 6 of them, all within a mile of each other. Now one DO, that often gets ignored. Numbered streets. Sure they are bland, and you will have to resist changing its names to some past crooked politician, but if you are lost, they are a great way to find where you need to be. Say you have to be on North 125th street. You just crossed 49 and are at a light on 50th. You are going in the right direction. If you are on South 49th street, you have a longer journey. I know that street planning is more complicated, but why do planners have to increase that? ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2002, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/messed-up-street-names/112430/2 "2002-06-05T04:33:05Z")
Another no-no is the SAME street changing names 3 times in less than a 10 minute commute. What _were_ they thinking? ---
**Author:** ![Patricinus\_Scriblerus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f07891/32.png) [@Patricinus\_Scriblerus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patricinus_Scriblerus)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2002, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/messed-up-street-names/112430/3 "2002-06-05T04:54:47Z")
Here in Winnipeg there is a street that starts out as Salter you go over a bridge and it becomes Isabel, through a set of lights and it’s Balmoral, then Memorial, then Osborne then Dunkirk… you can travel the whole span in less than 30 minutes. My personal favourite is Beaver road … Exit 69 [snicker] it’s some where around Pontiac Mi ---
**Author:** ![Osakadave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f07891/32.png) [@Osakadave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Osakadave)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2002, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/messed-up-street-names/112430/4 "2002-06-05T05:02:36Z")
In my home town of Lake Jackson Tx., it\*s possible to give the following directions: Go down This Way, turn right on Any Way, make a left when you come to That Way, and turn right on Circle Way. A friend in High School was teased for living on Pansy Path. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2002, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/messed-up-street-names/112430/5 "2002-06-05T05:08:39Z")
You’re preachin’ to the choir, pal. I had my business office for many years on Post Oak Place Drive, which is only one of the eight or so Post Oaks in that area. It wasn’t Post Oak Drive, or Post Oak Circle, Post Oak Place, Post Oak Parkway or even the great and wonderful Post Oak Boulevard (which we subsequently moved to). ---
**Author:** ![Squish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Squish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squish)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2002, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/messed-up-street-names/112430/6 "2002-06-05T05:53:11Z")
What I can’t stand is streets named after the developers’ relatives. Who the hell wants to live on Debbie Street, Robert Road, Cheryl-Lynn Drive, etc.? ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2002, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/messed-up-street-names/112430/7 "2002-06-05T06:14:40Z")
Hmmmm…Cheryl-Lynn Drive versus Post Oak Place Drive Circle. Who wins? ---
**Author:** ![Cruktar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d9b06d/32.png) [@Cruktar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cruktar)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2002, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/messed-up-street-names/112430/8 "2002-06-05T08:15:08Z")
I’d like to send out a special “thank you” to the street planners for a certain subdivision in Tulsa, Oklahoma for giving the streets the same name, but with different suffixes. I.e., Asinine Avenue vs. Asinine Place. It makes navigation oh-so-redundant. ---
**Author:** ![dead0man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/edb3f5/32.png) [@dead0man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dead0man)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2002, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/messed-up-street-names/112430/9 "2002-06-05T09:38:45Z")
With a few minor exceptions, Omaha, NE is earily easy to navigate. Numbered streets from 1st st to AT LEAST 200 and something. Those run N/S. They have A through Z streets for some of the E/W. They have major streets (Dodge, Pacific, L, Ames,etc) that run E/W and go in a straight line (for the most part) and are major streets for their entire run. If you need to find a buisness and its say 7214 Dodge street. You KNOW that its gonna be just passed 72nd street on Dodge. I’m not even a native and I can find pretty much anything without a map. Nowhere else I’ve lived (St.Louis, Atlanta, Biloxi, Panama City) can even compare to the ease of getting around Omaha. Thank you to the city planners. dead0man ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2002, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/messed-up-street-names/112430/10 "2002-06-05T13:32:52Z")
When I was a child I lived about 4 blocks from where i live now there is stanridge avenue on one then street over its like 3rd street the street on the other side is stanridge avenue contiuned I had just been here 2 days and spent 4 hours in a 98 degree temp just around the corner of my house , In this area until the late 80s zoning laws were basically treated as suggestions ---
**Author:** ![screech-owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@screech-owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/screech-owl)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2002, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/messed-up-street-names/112430/11 "2002-06-05T14:58:52Z")
Where’s **elmwood** , the city planner? I’m sure he could give some real horror stories. Been in places like that. Vineyard Apartments, where every street is named after obscure (and occcasionally misspelled) species of wine grape. Pinewood Park - every street has some variant of ‘pine’ in the name - ironically, there were no pines anywhere within the vicinity of the apartment complex; they had all been replaced by palm trees (this IS Florida, ya know - gotta be tropical). And speaking of developer’s kid’s names - a local miniburb (six streets of duplexes) voted to change their street names. Originally they were all multisyllabic Indian names(Brahpalejampura\*\* Boulevard and such). Now they are named after WWII fighter aircraft, since we have a Warbirds Air Museum down the street. \*\*not positive on the exact spellings but I had noticed the street signs were oversized to accomodate the names ---
**Author:** ![Stana\_Claus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stana_claus/32/13874_2.png) [@Stana\_Claus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stana_Claus)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2002, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/messed-up-street-names/112430/12 "2002-06-05T15:29:50Z")
Try navigating your way through Washington, D.C. sometime. On paper, things look relatively simple - Letters running east/west and numbers running north/south. The problem is, the numbers start from the doors of the Capitol building. That is, 1st St. is one block from the front door, 2nd St. is two blocks, etc. So far so good. But wait! Go out the back door and what do you find? Another damn 1st St., 2nd St., etc. So say you need to meet someone at the corner of K St. and 14th St. Which one is it, and they are only 28 blocks apart. You MUST pay attention to whether the address is K & 14th NE or K & 14th NW!!! Then, just to liven things up a bit, randomly scatter a few traffic circles (round-abouts) around the city and shoot off a bunch of streets named after the states like spokes of a wheel on top of this nice orderly grid. Make it so that streets are one way one direction in the morning, one way the other direction in the afternoon, and both ways during non-peak travel times. Throw in some spots where you have several one way streets in succession all going the same direction. Then unleash many thousands of tourists from around the world and let the hilarity ensue. Oh, yeah. Definitely our showcase city. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2002, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/messed-up-street-names/112430/13 "2002-06-07T00:29:29Z")
Mrs. Nott’s Uncle Ernest and Aunt Lucretia turned a piece of farmland into a subdivision. They named streets after all their kids, and when they came to the last street, they wanted to name it after the two of them. Several folks tried to nudge them toward Lucerne, but the street is Ernilu Drive. How picturesque! I’d like to live on Cedar Wizard Lane. When my friends came over, they could sing, “We’re off to Cedar Wizard.” ---
**Author:** ![Sasquatch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@Sasquatch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sasquatch)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2002, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/messed-up-street-names/112430/14 "2002-06-07T00:35:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ruby \* > \*\*Another no-no is the SAME street changing names 3 times in less than a 10 minute commute. > > What _were_ they thinking? \*\* HELLO CHICAGO SUBURBS! Naperville Road and Naper Blvd. are the same street for a while until they split off, whereupon Naperville Road ends but Naper Blvd. becomes Naperville Road later on…I think. For bad street names, I grew up on a street call _The Lane_. UGH. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2002, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/messed-up-street-names/112430/15 "2002-06-07T00:46:24Z")
Charlotte is famous for streets changing names at intersections, forks, hard curves, name it. My favorite is where Queens Road and Providence Road meet, and they both turn left. ---
**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2002, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/messed-up-street-names/112430/16 "2002-06-07T01:10:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Patricinus Scriblerus \* > My personal favourite is Beaver road … Exit 69 [snicker] it’s some where around Pontiac Mi _Big_ Beaver Road, actually. Even more snicker-worthy. ---
**Author:** ![Sylkyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/da6949/32.png) [@Sylkyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylkyn)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2002, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/messed-up-street-names/112430/17 "2002-06-07T01:41:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AskNott \* > \*\* > > I’d like to live on Cedar Wizard Lane. When my friends came over, they could sing, “We’re off to Cedar Wizard.” \*\* If ever there was a line just screaming to be a sig, this is it! ---
**Author:** ![Daoloth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/82dd89/32.png) [@Daoloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daoloth)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2002, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/messed-up-street-names/112430/18 "2002-06-07T03:30:02Z")
Road Rash- reminds me of the “Willow” are of town. Willowbrook, Willowlake, Willowstone, etc. etc. ---
**Author:** ![Squish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Squish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squish)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2002, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/messed-up-street-names/112430/19 "2002-06-07T04:51:12Z")
You win, Ringo, in terms of unwieldiness, but for sheer cringe factor: Cheryl-Lynn. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2002, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/messed-up-street-names/112430/20 "2002-06-07T06:18:52Z")
I ran across a “Morningwood Drive” once upon a time. I’d hate to live there…