# The street we live on is unique **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 7, 2025, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-street-we-live-on-is-unique/1025488 "2025-12-07T05:03:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [December 11, 2025, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-street-we-live-on-is-unique/1025488/41 "2025-12-11T17:00:08Z")
> [@Die\_Capacitrix](#): > > I live in German-speaking Switzerland, where people speak Swiss German as their native language. The written language is Swiss standard German, but this means a lot of Swiss German does not have a standard written form. > > My street name, as spelled, is unique. There are other places in Germany and Austria, but with other variations, which are written according to standard German rules. > > So I would tend to set the blame on a spoken dialect. Interesting. The street I live on in suburban Los Angeles is a nonstandard spelling of a German name. Presumably based after the family that first lived along it. It’s not uncommon for German family names in the U.S. to have nonstandard spellings, due to both the German spelling standards having changed over the centuries and Americans adjusting the spelling to be more Anglicized. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2025, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-street-we-live-on-is-unique/1025488/42 "2025-12-11T17:38:06Z")
Not particularly unique but I used to race at Powell Speedway on Powell Rd in Powell, Ohio. ---
**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:** [December 11, 2025, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-street-we-live-on-is-unique/1025488/43 "2025-12-11T18:29:15Z")
As Emerson had it: > A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds Real creative thinkers those Powell folks. 😁 ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2025, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-street-we-live-on-is-unique/1025488/44 "2025-12-13T00:40:39Z")
I’m a little jealous of you all. I searched Google maps for my street name and found it in most of the adjoining towns. It’s a tree-name road, and I’m sure there are hundreds of it across the US. ---
**Author:** ![abcdefghij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/43a26b/32.png) [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2025, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-street-we-live-on-is-unique/1025488/45 "2025-12-14T14:41:46Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Real creative thinkers those Powell folks. 😁 In Arlington, VA, there’s a North Glebe Road, a South Glebe Road, a West Glebe Road, and an East Glebe Road. North Glebe transitions to South Glebe. West Glebe transitions to East Glebe, but not at North/South Glebe. West Glebe Road does branch off of South Glebe Road (West Glebe is everywhere south of South Glebe). So, you can tell people to meet you at the intersection of Glebe and Glebe and have a 1/3 chance of finding them. Don’t get me started on Old North Glebe. ---
**Author:** ![Ynnad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4491bb/32.png) [@Ynnad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ynnad)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2025, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-street-we-live-on-is-unique/1025488/46 "2025-12-14T14:52:37Z")
My workplace is on Dead Dog Leg Road. I am guessing that is unique without further research. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2025, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-street-we-live-on-is-unique/1025488/47 "2025-12-14T14:56:56Z")
I had a girl friend who lived on The Boulevard. ---
**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:** [December 14, 2025, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-street-we-live-on-is-unique/1025488/48 "2025-12-14T15:36:07Z")
> [@abcdefghij](#): > > So, you can tell people to meet you at the intersection of Glebe and Glebe and have a 1/3 chance of finding them. I’ve talked sevaral times about street naming (numbering really) here in Greater Miami. In almost every longstanding town in the metro blob there are at least 4 intersections of 1st & 1st, at least 4 intersections of 2nd & 2nd, at least 4 intersections of 3rd & 3rd, etc. The upper limit, very rarely reached, is 36 intersections of e.g. 1st & 1st in a single municipality. The blob has 50 some municipalities. It’s _extremely_ logical and consistent and easy to use once you know the system. But it requires careful attention to include _all_ the parameters. Almost any shorthanding introduces ambiguity. Which is fine _if_ you and the other person have enough common context to resolve the ambiguity the same way. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2025, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-street-we-live-on-is-unique/1025488/49 "2025-12-14T17:16:12Z")
I’m not sure what you are referring to here - are you referring to the way German names/words are spelled when an umlaut can’t be used, for example Müller will be spelled Mueller when an umlaut isn’t available or actual Anglicization , where Müller turns into Miller? ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2025, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-street-we-live-on-is-unique/1025488/50 "2025-12-14T21:15:36Z")
I’ve been doing some history work in Putnam County Ohio and they have the damnest system for naming roads I have come across yet. For instance, just to stick with the “I” roads, there is I, I-5, I-6, I-7 up to I-23 (but not all available combinations). Plus 2-I, 6-I, 13-I, 14-I, 15-I, etc. Along with highways using the same numbers like Rt-15 , etc. Some series are N-S and others E-W. Plus diagonal. Some roads are discontinuous and have several sections with the same ID. And I’ll throw in Road 7-K-2. I don’t know _ **what** _ that road does. ---
**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:** [December 14, 2025, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-street-we-live-on-is-unique/1025488/51 "2025-12-14T21:41:02Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > Road 7-K-2. I don’t know _ **what** _ that road does. It was probably paved with good intentions. So you know what [cue ominous music] _that_ means. 🤪 ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-street-we-live-on-is-unique/1025488/52 "2025-12-15T12:39:33Z")
The back door of my apt bldg is on Coffee street. Not the beverage, however. It’s one block long. “The street is named after a Jesuit priest, Father John C. Coffee. Born in Ireland, he taught at St. Mary’s College/Collège Ste-Marie in Montreal. In 1896, he was among the key architects of the spin-off of the English-language section of St. Mary’s College to become Loyola College, which was initially located downtown. In 1900, he signed the deed of purchase of the 50-acre Decary farm in western NDG, and was then one of the key players in the construction of Loyola’s new campus there, into which it moved in 1916. Coffee Street, which was named in his honour, runs west from the western border of Loyola Campus.” ---
**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:** [December 15, 2025, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-street-we-live-on-is-unique/1025488/53 "2025-12-15T15:59:22Z")
Neither. I’m referring to when English speakers change the spelling to better match English pronunciation. For example, “Eisenhauer” → “Eisenhower”, or “Walz” → “Waltz”. ---
**Author:** ![theater\_in\_a\_crowded\_fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@theater\_in\_a\_crowded\_fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/theater_in_a_crowded_fire)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2025, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-street-we-live-on-is-unique/1025488/54 "2025-12-16T12:23:16Z")
Don’t know how unique this is, but I live on both a road and a drive if you believe the local street department. We’ve been here 21 years and for the entire time the sign at one end has said “Generic Streetname Rd.” and the sign at the other end says “Generic Streetname Dr.” They’ve been replaced a few times due to accidents, etc and always go back the same way. The post office will deliver to either version and while my (paid off) mortgage listed it as Drive, my actual deed lists it as Road. It’s a total crapshoot with any other paperwork. I never have seen an explanation. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2025, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-street-we-live-on-is-unique/1025488/55 "2025-12-16T17:42:15Z")
> [@theater\_in\_a\_crowded\_fire](#): > > the sign at one end has said “Generic Streetname Rd.” and the sign at the other end says “Generic Streetname Dr.” That is odd. Does the jurisdiction change along the street, i.e. town vs township? ---
**Author:** ![theater\_in\_a\_crowded\_fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@theater\_in\_a\_crowded\_fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/theater_in_a_crowded_fire)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2025, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-street-we-live-on-is-unique/1025488/56 "2025-12-16T18:18:59Z")
It’s really odd. The street is completely within the city limits of a single municipality. I’ve asked some city officials and all I get is a shrug and “It’s just always been that way”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-street-we-live-on-is-unique/1025488.md?page=2)