# Which major American city has the best street names? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 5, 2012, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-major-american-city-has-the-best-street-names/639902 "2012-11-05T00:20:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-major-american-city-has-the-best-street-names/639902/1 "2012-11-05T00:20:49Z")
Los Angeles has Century, Victory, Imperial and Olympic, to name just a few. Can you beat that? As for the dullest, Columbus, Ohio has to be right up there. Main, Town, High, Broad… It almost puts you to sleep, until you happen upon Gay Street. Then there’s the mostly-numbers scheme of Salt Lake City. 1600 West and streets like that. So functional, yet so boring. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-major-american-city-has-the-best-street-names/639902/2 "2012-11-05T00:39:45Z")
You can’t beat San Francisco’s Latin American Dictators of Castro and Noriega… ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-major-american-city-has-the-best-street-names/639902/3 "2012-11-05T00:39:46Z")
New Orleans by a mile. Bourbon, Tchoupitoulas, Royal, Burgundy and dozens of others are not only famous but require someone to know about history to give the correct pronunciation. Street names are lesson in American, French, and Spanish history in that city. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-major-american-city-has-the-best-street-names/639902/4 "2012-11-05T00:43:46Z")
Agree with New Orleans, for sure. Drinking a sazerac on Rues Iberville, Bienville, Carondelet, Gov. Nichols, Conti, etc., etc., etc. is an American History lesson par excellance… ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-major-american-city-has-the-best-street-names/639902/5 "2012-11-05T00:54:04Z")
Madison, Wi has downtown streets named for early American historical figures. Names such as Washington are too ordinary and don’t give away the scheme. It’s the other historic figures whose names are largely overlooked such as Pinckney, Baldwin, Doty, or Bassett that fill out the street grid. Many were delegates to the Constitutional Convention and/or signed the Declaration of Independence. A [Wisconsin Historical Society article](http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/odd/archives/002071.asp) on the topic. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-major-american-city-has-the-best-street-names/639902/6 "2012-11-05T01:09:47Z")
Bow before the might of St. Louis, with Hydraulic, Sulfur, Iron, Industrial, Foundry, Arsenal, Commercial and Terminal Row. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-major-american-city-has-the-best-street-names/639902/7 "2012-11-05T01:20:53Z")
As much as I hate to say it, it’s probably Salt Lake City. When you are given an address you can actually find where it is you want to go. You don’t have to “know” the city. Save cute, original names for pets. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-major-american-city-has-the-best-street-names/639902/8 "2012-11-05T01:37:05Z")
Atlantic City’s street names read like a Monopoly board, there has got to be something said for that. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-major-american-city-has-the-best-street-names/639902/9 "2012-11-05T01:40:32Z")
It doesn’t qualify as a major city but many of the streets in my old hometown of Plattsburgh, NY have women’s names. There’s Catherine Street, Cornelia Street, Margaret Street, Lorraine Street, Elizabeth Street, Helen Street, Caroline Street, Grace Avenue, Sally Avenue, Sandra Avenue, Sharon Avenue, Erin Avenue, and Marcy Lane. The south side of Plattsburgh is the location of the old military base (Army, Navy, and finally Air Force). The streets in that area are named after states: New York Road, Arizona Avenue, Idaho Avenue, Nevada Oval, Montana Drive, Mississippi Street, Massachusetts Street, Maine Road, Kentucky Street, Louisiana Avenue, Connecticut Avenue, Iowa Circle, Illinois Drive, Indiana Drive, Kansas Avenue, Ohio Avenue, and Tennessee Road. And there’s a little street called Ag Way because everyone loves a good farming pun. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-major-american-city-has-the-best-street-names/639902/10 "2012-11-05T01:41:34Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Atlantic City’s street names read like a Monopoly board, there has got to be something said for that. Whoosh? ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-major-american-city-has-the-best-street-names/639902/11 "2012-11-05T01:43:25Z")
Columbia Md Lame Beaver Ct Wedding Ring Way Satan Wood Dr Broken Lute Catfeet Ct Sweet Hours Way Weather Worn Way ---
**Author:** ![feppytweed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/feppytweed/32/4280_2.png) [@feppytweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/feppytweed)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-major-american-city-has-the-best-street-names/639902/12 "2012-11-05T01:46:34Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Whoosh? Monopoly was based off of Atlantic City, so many of the streets are the same. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-major-american-city-has-the-best-street-names/639902/13 "2012-11-05T02:13:07Z")
San Diego has the alphabetical tree series and the state series. I never did figure out how the states were arranged… ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-major-american-city-has-the-best-street-names/639902/14 "2012-11-05T02:20:55Z")
Riddle: What are the three streets in Chicago that rhyme with a woman’s genitalia? ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-major-american-city-has-the-best-street-names/639902/15 "2012-11-05T02:26:11Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > Riddle: What are the three streets in Chicago that rhyme with a woman’s genitalia? Deloris, Regina and Fabia? ---
**Author:** ![Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimmy_Gibbler)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-major-american-city-has-the-best-street-names/639902/16 "2012-11-05T02:31:53Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > Riddle: What are the three streets in Chicago that rhyme with a woman’s genitalia? Well, there’s Paulina and Melvina … What’s the third? Prurient minds think alike: I opened this thread just to add these three streets. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-major-american-city-has-the-best-street-names/639902/17 "2012-11-05T02:38:43Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > Riddle: What are the three streets in Chicago that rhyme with a woman’s genitalia? Regina, Paulina, and Lunt BA-DUM-BUM! _ **CRASH!** _ ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-major-american-city-has-the-best-street-names/639902/18 "2012-11-05T02:49:28Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Bow before the might of St. Louis, with Hydraulic, Sulfur, Iron, Industrial, Foundry, Arsenal, Commercial and Terminal Row. I like those a lot, but they don’t seem to be major streets. You can find interestingly named streets in almost any big city if you look long enough. I’m still going with Los Angeles. I also like New Orleans, but I’ll take 20th-century optimism over 18th-century eclecticism. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-major-american-city-has-the-best-street-names/639902/19 "2012-11-05T02:53:19Z")
> [@feppytweed](#): > > Monopoly was based off of Atlantic City, so many of the streets are the same. I know. That’s why I posted. ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-major-american-city-has-the-best-street-names/639902/20 "2012-11-05T03:20:00Z")
In Nashville, down by the river, there is a stoplight that has a sign that looks like: \<- Church St. Gay St. -\> [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-major-american-city-has-the-best-street-names/639902.md?page=2)