# Street name importance **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 2, 2006, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/street-name-importance/346839 "2006-03-02T23:44:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2006, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/street-name-importance/346839/41 "2006-03-03T22:13:49Z")
Here in the Atlanta area, we have a [Lois Lane](http://maps.yahoo.com/maps_result?addr=Lois+Lane&csz=Atlanta%2C+GA&country=us&new=1&name=&qty=) and a [Della Street.](http://maps.yahoo.com/maps_result?newFL=Use+Address+Below&addr=Della+St&csz=Marietta%2C+GA&.intl=us&name=&lat=&lon=&srchtype=a&qty=&new=1&trf=0&getmap=Get+Map)\* I wouldn’t move just to be on either on of them, but I think both are pretty neat names! \*(For you youngsters, Della Street was Perry Mason’s “private confidential secretary.”) ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2006, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/street-name-importance/346839/42 "2006-03-03T22:32:07Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by **Troy McClure SF** : > I’d avoid these, not so much on the street name itself, but because these tend to be soulless suburbs, at least [around here](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=daly+city&ll=37.686979,-122.486572&spn=0.009781,0.033216). Oh, I’ll see your Palmdale Ave., **Troy** , and raise you an [E. Sunset Ridge Rd.](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=highlands+ranch&ll=39.550118,-104.96943&spn=0.014527,0.04137), from which you turn right onto S. Wild Iris Run, make another right onto E. Thistle Ridge Road, then turn left onto E. Mountain Sage Dr. Highlands Ranch: the soulless-est suburb I’ve ever seen. I know it’s home to some fine folks–but, really, do the masters who plan these master-planned communities not realize that these streets may be here for a while, and names like that will always be confusing to people who try to visit the folks who live there? (Ooh–because they don’t have enough character in the street names, they put needless curves on the streets.) ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2006, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/street-name-importance/346839/43 "2006-03-03T22:41:11Z")
When I was at my passport-making job, I ran across a street called “Choo Choo Lane,” somewhere in Florida. That’s more than a bit twee. I kind of don’t like those cutesy names since they are so obviously fake and you know it’s more than likely some new development with no history that is filled with soulless suburbanites who seem pleasant during the day but morph into bloodsucking monsters at night. Or, um, not. Next down the list are really generic names like Pine and Wood. I’ve lived on both a Pine and a Wood St., and both times I really thought my address lacked character. Like the name is an afterthought: “Uh, boss, what should we name this street?” “Dunno. Hey, look, there’s a pine tree over there, call it that.” “And that other one.” “Well, there’s wood on that pine tree.” But no, I don’t think any street name, whether cutesy, generic, or borderline offensive, would detract from a place so much as to make me not want to live there, except for maybe that Hitler St., but even then I’d probably move there anyway and petition to get the name changed. I’m surprised a street would still be called that now. (I kind of like the name Hydraulic Street. It would make me feel like a character in a steampunk novel.) ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2006, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/street-name-importance/346839/44 "2006-03-04T01:25:33Z")
I just remembered one that I liked. Back in college I had a professor who lived in a housing development near the University. Her house was on King John Road in Sherwood Forest. Her first name was Marian and she had never married. She did it on purpose I’m sure. ---
**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:** [March 4, 2006, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/street-name-importance/346839/45 "2006-03-04T01:49:47Z")
> [@davenportavenger](#): > > But no, I don’t think any street name, whether cutesy, generic, or borderline offensive, would detract from a place so much as to make me not want to live there, except for maybe that Hitler St., but even then I’d probably move there anyway and petition to get the name changed. I’m surprised a street would still be called that now. You probably don’t want to live in [Swastika, Ontario](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swastika%2C_Ontario), then. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2006, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/street-name-importance/346839/46 "2006-03-04T04:02:42Z")
I used to live near Belcher Ln. Here’s the evidence. [http://maps.google.com/maps?near=Belcher%20Ln,%20Las%20Vegas,%20NV%2089110](http://maps.google.com/maps?near=Belcher%20Ln,%20Las%20Vegas,%20NV%2089110) I wouldn’t have bought into that address for even a bunch of discount on the house. Not far away was Curdsen Way. [http://maps.google.com/maps?near=CurdsenWay](http://maps.google.com/maps?near=CurdsenWay), Las Vegas, NV 89110. You’ve gotta zoom in to see the street names. If that sounds OK to you, think of Little Miss Muffett. Curdsen Way connects to Better Way & Supreme Court. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2006, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/street-name-importance/346839/47 "2006-03-04T04:11:50Z")
Southern California rule of street names: The more Spanish words in the name of the street, the less likely you will run into anyone who lives there who can speak Spanish. Numbered streets or names like “Main” or “Elm” or “Park” are far more likely to have people who speak Spanish living on them. ---
**Author:** ![zoogirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b9bd4f/32.png) [@zoogirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoogirl)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2006, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/street-name-importance/346839/48 "2006-03-04T06:47:22Z")
I quite like our name - Old Yale Road. There are bits and pieces of it all the way through the Valley. I believe it’s the original 1858 Gold Rush trail. Now it’s just an ordinary paved, suburban street, at least my stretch of it. ---
**Author:** ![LVgeogeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b19c9b/32.png) [@LVgeogeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVgeogeek)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2006, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/street-name-importance/346839/49 "2006-03-04T07:02:04Z")
Las Vegas has some of the worst street names I have ever seen. Most of them I am pretty sure I couldn’t live on. Here are some examples: Railroad River Avenue Ivy Thorn Avenue Coral Ribbon Avenue Desert Dandelion Court Thistle Poppy Avenue Pounding Surf Avenue (by the way we are at least 400 miles from the ocean) Amethyst Creek Court Coral River Drive Whisper Lake Avenue Curiosity Avenue Sanction Avenue Real Quiet Drive Vivid Violet Avenue Burning Hide Avenue Happy Stream Avenue Jumping Moon Court Rusty Rifle Avenue Blushed Meadows Road Crimson Tide Avenue the intersection of Birdie Lane and Golf View Drive Berry Patch Way Green Apple Way Strawberry Cream Court Catfish Cove Avenue Elegant Coral Avenue Thistle Landing Street Coral Cottage Drive Rusty Anchor Way Heavenly Harvest Place Sheer Paradise Lane Belt Buckley Drive Sharp Spur Drive Pistol Perry Parkway Wild Wiily Way Hannibal Way Reflex Drive Osprey Point New World Avenue Painted Opus Place Real Park Place Civic Holiday Avenue Shipwrecked Way Redbull Slice Street (connects the two previous streets in the same neighborhood) Delorean Drive (Yep, like the car) Lucas Avenue Skywalker Avenue Tarkin Avenue Vader Avenue Kinobe Avenue Miss Peach Avenue I could go on and on and on… :eek: ---
**Author:** ![LVgeogeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b19c9b/32.png) [@LVgeogeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVgeogeek)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2006, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/street-name-importance/346839/50 "2006-03-04T07:04:01Z")
> [@LVgeogeek](#): > > Wild Wiily Way That should be Wild Willy Way ---
**Author:** ![Feydeau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df788c/32.png) [@Feydeau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feydeau)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2006, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/street-name-importance/346839/51 "2006-03-04T07:08:20Z")
> [@LVgeogeek](#): > > Real Quiet Drive Sounds so Lake Wobegone-ish. As in, Ralph’s Pretty Good Grocery. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2006, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/street-name-importance/346839/52 "2006-03-04T09:55:35Z")
When I lived in Montgomery County, MD, the street with the worst crime rate was Lost Knife Circle (Only something like Dead Hooker Way would’ve been worse). Over in Prince George’s county, Indian Head Highway has an appalling legend behind its name, involving a decapitated indian… ---
**Author:** ![UntouchedTakeaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d78d45/32.png) [@UntouchedTakeaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UntouchedTakeaway)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2006, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/street-name-importance/346839/53 "2006-03-04T12:10:42Z")
> [@LunaV](#): > > How important to you is the name of the street where you live? I’ve come across many odd, confusing, funny, long, and complicated street names in my job and wonder what these people think about their unusual locations. > Would having an undesirable street name sway your decision to buy an otherwise perfect home? > Examples welcome! I don’t live on the road, but in Warren County, NJ, you have “Shades of Death” Road. Here’s a link: [http://weirdnj.com/stories/\_roads05.asp](http://weirdnj.com/stories/_roads05.asp) VCNJ~ ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2006, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/street-name-importance/346839/54 "2006-03-04T12:41:16Z")
For a while I lived on York street in Lancaster. I was too young at the time to realize why my Mom thought it was so funny. Well not too young, but I didn’t get it yet. You know what I mean. Also in this aerospace-industry driven area, there is commercial land on the corner of Challenger (actually 10th East) and Columbia (Ave. M), both renamed not long after their respective tragedies. I know whoever thought of that meant well, but I find it ghoulish. I lived for a while on Sheldon Ave. It always made me think of [this](http://www.jrj-socrates.com/Cartoon%20Pics/Comics/Garfield/Sheldon_300.gif) guy. I lived with my Mom in Colorado, on Thrush Drive. Yeah it was supposed to be a bird, but I could only think of yeast infections. Now I live off of F-8, even though I don’t believe in it. Har-har. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2006, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/street-name-importance/346839/55 "2006-03-04T12:46:43Z")
> [@The Sausage Creature](#): > > Also in this aerospace-industry driven area, there is commercial land on the corner of Challenger (actually 10th East) and Columbia (Ave. M), both renamed not long after their respective tragedies. I know whoever thought of that meant well, but I find it ghoulish. Err, actually it’s mostly desert. No idea what it’s zoned for, but probably industrial since it’s by Plant 42. I don’t make it over there much, obviously. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2006, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/street-name-importance/346839/56 "2006-03-04T22:47:02Z")
I remember reading an article about the Republicans making sure their headquarters didn’t have a Gay Street address in Columbus, Ohio. ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2006, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/street-name-importance/346839/57 "2006-03-05T10:53:04Z")
> [@The Sausage Creature](#): > > For a while I lived on York street in Lancaster. I was too young at the time to realize why my Mom thought it was so funny. Well not too young, but I didn’t get it yet. You know what I mean. I’m 32, and I don’t get it either. Can you explain, please? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2006, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/street-name-importance/346839/58 "2006-03-05T11:02:05Z")
It didn’t stop me from buying my present house, but “Cronk Avenue” just sounds weird. It was named after one of the first weathermen/broadcasters in the country and this was his hometown. Weird street names in SE Michigan…Green Cars. Romeo Plank. Dye Krest, which makes me think Dyke Rest, which is cute. I don’t know how many people see the irony in pastoral sounding street names in new subdivisions. Hidden Oaks, Green Meadow, Cherrywood, Summerfield, Forest Glen. All things that were chopped down and leveled to make way for acres of bland houses with tiny manicured lawns. I would rather have a root canal every day of my life than have to live in a subdivision like that. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2006, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/street-name-importance/346839/59 "2006-03-05T11:05:20Z")
**Bites When Provoked** , it refers to the [War of the Roses](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wars_of_the_Roses), an on-again off-again civil war in England between the House of Lancaster and the House of York. ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2006, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/street-name-importance/346839/60 "2006-03-05T13:37:57Z")
> [@Tamarin](#): > > I live on a street with a boring name that I’m not really fond of, but there are a couple of streets around here that I’d love to live on. > > Sunnydale (with the added bonus that there is a funeral home on the same street) > Black Cat Road > Chicken Dinner Road We do have some rather funny street and road names around these parts. Here are some others in my area: Duff Lane Purple Sage Road (cue Jimi Hendrix music) Deer Flat Road There’s also an “Easy Street” in the town of Caldwell. That must be a pain for people who live there: “Where do you live?” “I’m living on Easy Street.” “No come on, seriously, where do you live?” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/street-name-importance/346839.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/street-name-importance/346839.md?page=4)