Not the street names but their suffix - street, avenue, road and might as well throw in Blvd. although that one can be figured out by mere mortals.
Take State Street for example. What follows east is Wabash, then Michigan Ave. Why “street” then “avenue”? They both go in the same direction. Shouldn’t their suffix be the same?
Pulaski Road, Cicero Ave. They both are north/south but have different suffixes. Why?
There’s no system. As Cecil wrote in a column long ago:
http://chicago.straightdope.com/sdc20090108.php
… there was a proposal to systematize suffixes, but it didn’t get anywhere, no doubt because number + direction + street told you all you needed to know.
Here’s an are-you-a-real-Chicagoan question: is Broadway an avenue or a street?
I thought that it wasn’t either, it’s just Broadway (or Broad Way). I’m not a real Chicagoan by any means, that’s just what I was told by locals while visiting.
Right you are. I once got into an argument with a moronic city desk guy who insisted it had to be a street or an avenue (or something), it couldn’t just be Broadway. This was in the days before cell-phone cameras, so I couldn’t just send him a picture of the street sign, which indeed shows no suffix.
Thanks for the link Ed and ---- they say the neon lights are bright on Broadway.
Indeed, in many cities, “Broadway” has no suffix.