# Police directionality **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 13, 2010, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-directionality/539245 "2010-05-13T01:16:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-directionality/539245/41 "2010-05-13T20:59:06Z")
When I went to Cornell, even if I didn’t exactly know where I was, if I went uphill chances are I was going toward the college: very rarely did I not know where I was so far as to be on the other side of the valley. All other times other than Orlando, I’ve lived by a coast, so if you had a distinct idea of where the coast was, you couldn’t get too terribly lost. Actually, for ages 5-12 I lived in Fredonia, NY which, despite being less than 5 miles from Lake Erie, was not thought of as coastal. When I visit there I can get somewhat lost easy (but can find my way back by following the old landmarks), and come to think of it, it’s probably because I don’t instinctively orient myself to the lake erie coast. Maybe I should start trying, if it didn’t remind me of Fredonia’s sister community, Dunkirk, which _is_ on the coast and is a perfect example of rust-belt decay in miniature. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-directionality/539245/42 "2010-05-13T21:05:48Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > You know what’s really weird? Growing up in Cleveland, I always had an intuitive sense of where the lake was, and that way’s North. Unsurprisingly, I get confused in Chicago or Toronto, but my direction sense still points toward the lake; I just have to remember which way that is. But what’s odd is, my same direction sense works just fine here in Bozeman, without a lake. Funny. For me it was Milwaukee, where the lake is always East. As for SOAT and his cars, I am not a car person. Don’t think about them. Don’t care about them. Engine, roof, brakes and I’m good. That being said, my last ten years of work have included a shitload of road time. I can now pick out make from an absurd distance, and I can generally get within a year or two only slightly closer. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-directionality/539245/43 "2010-05-13T21:06:54Z")
I’m hoping the OP comes back to answer the question of whether he thinks most people don’t know which direction they’re driving. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-directionality/539245/44 "2010-05-13T21:56:56Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > You know what’s really weird? Growing up in Cleveland, I always had an intuitive sense of where the lake was, and that way’s North. Unsurprisingly, I get confused in Chicago or Toronto, but my direction sense still points toward the lake; I just have to remember which way that is. But what’s odd is, my same direction sense works just fine here in Bozeman, without a lake. Something similar for me. I lived in the Boston area for several years and somehow integrated a sense for which direction the ocean was. East. Once I moved to SoCal, I instinctively kept associating East with the ocean, while correctly find North via where the mountains are. I told people I was using a left-handed coordinate system. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-directionality/539245/45 "2010-05-14T02:16:27Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Hell, this can even happen in a place like New York, if you’re wandering around Chinatown or Tribeca. Of course, all you need to do is catch sight of a tall landmark like the Empire State building, the Brooklyn Bridge, or (before 2001) the World Trade Center, and you can reorient yourself pretty quickly. One of the many disturbing things about the destruction of the World Trade Center (on the minor end of the scale, to be sure) that I couldn’t use the towers to orient myself. I hadn’t realized until that time how frequently I would unthinkingly glance toward the WTC to figure out or confirm where I was in the City. ---
**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:** [May 14, 2010, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-directionality/539245/46 "2010-05-14T04:18:49Z")
The Greater Toronto Area is built on several overall land-survey grids, with arterial roads spaced around 2 km apart. Their intersections are prominent, well-known, and easy to find on maps. People give the nearest such intersection, then directions from there. We use logical directions based on this grid. For example, “north” in Mississauga is along the arterial grid, even though that is almost exactly northwest according to the compasss. (The grid is aligned to the lakeshore.) > [@Chronos](#): > > You know what’s really weird? Growing up in Cleveland, I always had an intuitive sense of where the lake was, and that way’s North. Unsurprisingly, I get confused in Chicago or Toronto, but my direction sense still points toward the lake; I just have to remember which way that is. But what’s odd is, my same direction sense works just fine here in Bozeman, without a lake. I know exactly what you mean, but in reverse. I grew up in Southern Ontario, and I’m used to there being a southern border to everything, not very far away. When I went to Ottawa or Hamilton, I was subtly disoriented because the border and/or the water was on the north. Oddly, I didn’t have this problem in New York (ultimately bounded by water on the south), or San Francisco (so different that it was easy to adapt to… plus, there were always mountains in the distance to orient on), or Helsinki (water and borders on the south). And I’m fine here in Bancroft, which is inland, on a small river. I was, however, never sure of direction in London, England, with its web of non-gridded streets and the tube network that didn’t follow them. Fortunately, I am good at maps. But I could never point north and be sure I was right. I think there’s a certain set of similar but different situations where our directional habits are still engaged but are fooled, but beyond that, we adapt to new circumstances. Or not. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-directionality/539245/47 "2010-05-14T05:36:09Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > Something similar for me. I lived in the Boston area for several years and somehow integrated a sense for which direction the ocean was. East. Once I moved to SoCal, I instinctively kept associating East with the ocean, while correctly find North via where the mountains are. I told people I was using a left-handed coordinate system. 😉 I’m that way after moving from Boston to Oregon. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-directionality/539245/48 "2010-05-14T08:45:02Z")
> [@Mr\_Downtown](#): > > You make it sound like it’s unusual for people to know what direction they’re facing. Is this your experience? Outside of US grids, yes, very unusual. One of the hardest things to adapt to for many foreigners, actually. There are parts of Latin America where people use compass directions but they may be skewed (east may be relative to the Panamericana, rather than to the compass, in a place where the Panam doesn’t quite run N-S). In much of Europe “cardinal” directions vary locally, people don’t use as the reference compass points but things like “sea, mountain, left, right” (Barcelona), “gables factory, vegetable gardens, industrial area, old sugar factory” (my home town)… there is a German cops show where they never use compass directions, it’s local geographical references. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-directionality/539245/49 "2010-05-14T16:27:37Z")
As a long time pilot, I’m pretty good about which way I am facing. Some people just don’t care. I do not understand this but hey… I would think that people who never look at maps of where they are or can’t understand maps would have the most problems. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-directionality/539245/50 "2010-05-14T17:47:45Z")
> [@](#): > > In much of Europe “cardinal” directions vary locally, people don’t use as the reference compass points but things like “sea, mountain, left, right” (Barcelona), “gables factory, vegetable gardens, industrial area, old sugar factory” (my home town)… there is a German cops show where they never use compass directions, it’s local geographical references. So you’d give directions like “I’m on \ road heading towards the gables factory”? What about a road that passes the gables factory? You could be heading towards it from either direction. ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-directionality/539245/51 "2010-05-14T22:01:34Z")
> [@Any\_Other\_Name](#): > > I wasn’t aware of the rule that Interstates must begin and end at other Interstates. I know that the Long Island Expressway (in New York) was designated an Interstate even though it didn’t fit the rules, but I thought the rule it broke was that it wasn’t “inter-state”. Looking back, I should have realized that was wrong; I think there are several Interstates that are within a single state. Like the ones in Hawaii. They just wanted to get federal money. ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-directionality/539245/52 "2010-05-14T22:13:31Z")
Ditto on cardinal directions not being that universal, as **Nava** said. For example in Germany they are as unknown as makes no difference. When someone references a pileup on the autobahn between Hamburg (north) and Hanover (more southerly), on the northbound lane, they will never say “northbound” but “in the Hamburg direction”. Likewise, cops and taxi drivers will report to their dispatchers that they are driving on A-street in the direction of B-neighbourhood or C-road. ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-directionality/539245/53 "2010-05-14T22:46:47Z")
If you pay attention to your orientation, you can occaisonally get entertainment out of it. Like, I was driving on Loop 12 in Dallas a few years back. Loop 12 is, naturally, a loop around the city center; each section also has a road name. The east/west section north of downtown is called Northwest Highway, for example. The E/W roads in Dallas also get an East or West designator based (roughly) on which side of downtown you’re on, just like in many other US cities. Hence, as the road I was driving on took a brief jog, I suddenly realized that I was driving south on East Northwest Highway. Well, _I_ was amused! ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2010, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-directionality/539245/54 "2010-05-15T02:31:24Z")
No European road ever has a name covering more than 2000m of its length, so it will be called one thing west of the gables factory and called another name another east of it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-directionality/539245.md?page=2)