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Funniest street names

Started by J Route Z, September 15, 2014, 12:56:22 PM

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ipeters61

Maybe not funny as much as odd, but when I first saw this sign in Chincoteague VA, I was thinking "Cat Hell"?

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed on my posts on the AARoads Forum are my own and do not represent official positions of my employer.
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Max Rockatansky

Recently encountered the Ice Cream Grade west of Felton in Santa Cruz County, California.  The Ice Cream Grade is a fairly inconsequential road so I didn't it merited it's own thread but was nonetheless amusing:

https://surewhynotnow.blogspot.com/2019/03/ice-cream-grade.html

The street blades are actually pretty prominent which was a surprise:

0 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

gonealookin

#702
I was looking for the "Boiling Pots" in the Wailuku River in Hilo, HI today.  To get there you turn on to this street.  Not the sign you most want to see if you're driving along and really, really need to go.



(I believe the correct spelling is actually "Pe'epe'e" as shown on the intersecting street's blade.)

jakeroot

#703
Quote from: bing101 on March 05, 2019, 06:23:16 PM
Quote from: yakra on March 05, 2019, 03:35:56 AM
No. 10 Downing St makes perfect sense in London.
No. 10 Downing St makes me LOL in Waco, Texas.

Yup I saw that
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/991-Downing-St-10-China-Spring-TX-76633/52051179_zpid/

There's a 10 Downing street in China Spring, TX.

That address (in the link) is 991 Downing Street, not 10 Downing Street.

British house numbers are usually quite small; the equivalent for your link would be "number double-nine-one" or "number nine-nine-one"...the #10 is referring to suite 10, not the entire building (as is the case for the PM's residence, No. 10 Downing St).

Very few homes in most American cities have one or two digit house numbers, so I'd imagine any chances of there being an actual "10 Downing St" would be pretty slim. Ontario seems to have a very strange house numbering system that seems to have more in common with other Commonwealth countries, than the rest of Canada; as such, there are more than a few "10 Downing St" addresses in that province.

For the record, the "No 10 Downing Street" that yakra is referring to in Waco is the actual name of a street (which is very bizarre, but whatever), not a house number and street.

Scott5114

#704
Quote from: jakeroot on March 07, 2019, 01:20:17 AM
Very few homes in most American cities have one or two digit house numbers, so I'd imagine any chances of there being an actual "10 Downing St" would be pretty slim. Ontario seems to have a very strange house numbering system that seems to have more in common with other Commonwealth countries, than the rest of Canada; as such, there are more than a few "10 Downing St" addresses in that province.

It entirely depends on what number the city starts with after a road crosses the baseline. Norman starts at 100, making any address less than 100 entirely impossible.

However, in Oklahoma City, address numbering starts at 0. For an example, here's a random duplex at 1 and 3 Akin Street, Oklahoma City, OK. (Somewhat amusingly, the property owner decided to post the house numbers as '01' and '03'.) If you want a single-family example, here's the next street north, 1 Pentree Drive, complete with a gigantic '1' on the mailbox.
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empirestate

Quote from: jakeroot on March 07, 2019, 01:20:17 AM
Very few homes in most American cities have one or two digit house numbers, so I'd imagine any chances of there being an actual "10 Downing St" would be pretty slim.

Hmm...I get what you're saying, but given how universal the practice is in my area (4 of my past 5 house numbers have been 2 digits), I wonder how true that is? Depends, I suppose, on how you define "most American cities".

hotdogPi

Quote from: empirestate on March 07, 2019, 01:26:03 PM
Quote from: jakeroot on March 07, 2019, 01:20:17 AM
Very few homes in most American cities have one or two digit house numbers, so I'd imagine any chances of there being an actual "10 Downing St" would be pretty slim.

Hmm...I get what you're saying, but given how universal the practice is in my area (4 of my past 5 house numbers have been 2 digits), I wonder how true that is? Depends, I suppose, on how you define "most American cities".

The Northeast is different. Mostly due to lack of a grid, house numbers start at 1.
Clinched, minus I-93 (I'm missing a few miles and my file is incorrect)

Traveled, plus US 13, 44, and 50, and several state routes

I will be in Burlington VT for the eclipse.

ipeters61

Quote from: 1 on March 07, 2019, 01:30:23 PM
Quote from: empirestate on March 07, 2019, 01:26:03 PM
Quote from: jakeroot on March 07, 2019, 01:20:17 AM
Very few homes in most American cities have one or two digit house numbers, so I'd imagine any chances of there being an actual "10 Downing St" would be pretty slim.

Hmm...I get what you're saying, but given how universal the practice is in my area (4 of my past 5 house numbers have been 2 digits), I wonder how true that is? Depends, I suppose, on how you define "most American cities".

The Northeast is different. Mostly due to lack of a grid, house numbers start at 1.
In Delaware, from what I have observed, most homes within a municipality have fairly small numbers (I've lived in Newark and Dover and all three of the addresses I've had have been 2-3 digits, examples are 11 North Dupont Highway, Dover or 124 East Main Street, Newark).  However, in unincorporated areas, they can be very large (e.g. Cape Henlopen State Park is 15099 Cape Henlopen Drive, Lewes - Cape Henlopen Drive only serves the park and the Cape May-Lewes Ferry terminal).
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed on my posts on the AARoads Forum are my own and do not represent official positions of my employer.
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bzakharin

Quote from: jakeroot on March 07, 2019, 01:20:17 AM
Very few homes in most American cities have one or two digit house numbers, so I'd imagine any chances of there being an actual "10 Downing St" would be pretty slim.
That may be true for big cities, but in suburbs, the story is much different. Here's a "10 Downing Street" in the town I live in
https://www.google.com/maps/place/10+Downing+St,+Cherry+Hill,+NJ+08003/@39.8873748,-74.9331186,17z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x89c13362f5acf0bb:0x9dc77a96e9c57882!8m2!3d39.887593!4d-74.935318

Mark68

In Denver, 10 Downing St is actually on the Denver CC golf course.

https://goo.gl/maps/fpWPXZw6Svu
"When you come to a fork in the road, take it."~Yogi Berra

jakeroot

#710
Quote from: 1 on March 07, 2019, 01:30:23 PM
Quote from: empirestate on March 07, 2019, 01:26:03 PM
Quote from: jakeroot on March 07, 2019, 01:20:17 AM
Very few homes in most American cities have one or two digit house numbers, so I'd imagine any chances of there being an actual "10 Downing St" would be pretty slim.

Hmm...I get what you're saying, but given how universal the practice is in my area (4 of my past 5 house numbers have been 2 digits), I wonder how true that is? Depends, I suppose, on how you define "most American cities".

The Northeast is different. Mostly due to lack of a grid, house numbers start at 1.

Right. And I'm not saying one or two digit house numbers don't exist at all, they're just relegated to one or two blocks in most western states and cities. While a few cities in the Seattle area have adopted their own street numbers, unincorporated areas (county-governed) and most cities use a county-supplied house numbering scheme. So you can get huge numbers, like this ranch in King County, WA (62201 Meadow Way E). But incorporated area or not, windy suburban streets still have house numbers that correspond to the grid, even if every street has custom names.

In Pierce County, the only single-digit addresses that I know of are in this triangular area of Tacoma. Other cities with their own house numbers, like Puyallup and Sumner, don't have anything lower than 100 that I can find.

Quote from: ipeters61 on March 07, 2019, 01:36:54 PM
In Delaware, from what I have observed, most homes within a municipality have fairly small numbers (I've lived in Newark and Dover and all three of the addresses I've had have been 2-3 digits, examples are 11 North Dupont Highway, Dover or 124 East Main Street, Newark).  However, in unincorporated areas, they can be very large (e.g. Cape Henlopen State Park is 15099 Cape Henlopen Drive, Lewes - Cape Henlopen Drive only serves the park and the Cape May-Lewes Ferry terminal).

See my above reply.

Quote from: Scott5114 on March 07, 2019, 06:56:28 AM
However, in Oklahoma City, address numbering starts at 0. For an example, here's a random duplex at 1 and 3 Akin Street, Oklahoma City, OK. (Somewhat amusingly, the property owner decided to post the house numbers as '01' and '03'.) If you want a single-family example, here's the next street north, 1 Pentree Drive, complete with a gigantic '1' on the mailbox.

My point wasn't that single or dual digit houses don't exist. My point was that the chances of a Downing Street passing through that 0-100 block of a city's is probably pretty rare.

Quote from: Mark68 on March 07, 2019, 04:35:17 PM
In Denver, 10 Downing St is actually on the Denver CC golf course.

https://goo.gl/maps/fpWPXZw6Svu

And that's a relatively rare situation, having a "Downing Street" that happens to pass through the 0-100 numbers of Denver's number scheme.

skluth

There can be single and double-digit address numbers even in places with a grid that starts with 100. I live in a trailer park. The homes are numbered 1-280 and whatever "street" the mobile home is on. Palm Springs nor the USPS has a problem with this, even though PS has a street grid with numbers starting at 100. There could easily be a 10 Downing St here, though I don't know of any local British-themed mobile home trailer parks so I doubt there's any nearby 10 Downing St.

The point is, just because you have a grid system starting at 100 doesn't mean you can't have a 10 Downing St.

ipeters61

I just remembered a trailer park in the Dover area had a bunch of street names that only someone with legal trouble needs to concern themselves with (Jury Drive, Evidence Road, Immunity Lane): https://www.google.com/maps/place/Barker's+Landing+Community/@39.0528462,-75.4659167,17.5z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0xbff32457f307816!8m2!3d39.0511977!4d-75.4663304
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empirestate

Quote from: 1 on March 07, 2019, 01:30:23 PM
Quote from: empirestate on March 07, 2019, 01:26:03 PM
Hmm...I get what you're saying, but given how universal the practice is in my area (4 of my past 5 house numbers have been 2 digits), I wonder how true that is? Depends, I suppose, on how you define "most American cities".

The Northeast is different. Mostly due to lack of a grid, house numbers start at 1.

Well, exactly. But how far does the different Northeast go towards the whole body of American cities? How many cities are there in the Northeast versus elsewhere? (What even counts as a "city"?)

Quote from: jakeroot on March 07, 2019, 06:09:02 PM
Right. And I'm not saying one or two digit house numbers don't exist at all, they're just relegated to one or two blocks in most western states and cities.

But it's the same in the east. One-digit house numbers will be in the first block or two of the street.

US 89

#714
Quote from: empirestate on March 09, 2019, 12:55:14 PM
Quote from: jakeroot on March 07, 2019, 06:09:02 PM
Right. And I'm not saying one or two digit house numbers don't exist at all, they're just relegated to one or two blocks in most western states and cities.

But it's the same in the east. One-digit house numbers will be in the first block or two of the street.

The zero point of eastern streets is just the start of the street, but the zero point of most western grid systems is some arbitrary street or maybe a railroad line, which likely isn't even close to the street in question. That means the vast majority of western streets don't start at 1. I'll throw out Denver as an example -- only streets that exist within a block of Broadway or Ellsworth can even have two-digit numbers. A random residential street in the distant suburbs might start at 10000 or something.

webny99

^ Yes, exactly. I have family in the Minneapolis suburbs who live on a residential street with maybe 30 houses. The entire neighborhood has five-digit house numbers in the 17XXX series.

They'll also have named streets end and then start up a mile away and keep the same numbering pattern. Theoretically all the bits and pieces of, say, 175th St. could be joined up to form a continuous street, but development patterns are often such that it will never happen.

empirestate

Quote from: US 89 on March 09, 2019, 01:25:59 PM
Quote from: empirestate on March 09, 2019, 12:55:14 PM
Quote from: jakeroot on March 07, 2019, 06:09:02 PM
Right. And I'm not saying one or two digit house numbers don't exist at all, they're just relegated to one or two blocks in most western states and cities.

But it's the same in the east. One-digit house numbers will be in the first block or two of the street.

The zero point of eastern streets is just the start of the street, but the zero point of most western grid systems is some arbitrary street or maybe a railroad line, which likely isn't even close to the street in question. That means the vast majority of western streets don't start at 1. I'll throw out Denver as an example -- only streets that exist within a block of Broadway or Ellsworth can even have two-digit numbers. A random residential street in the distant suburbs might start at 10000 or something.

Exactly; indeed, that's what the whole premise of the assertion is. But on the other hand, the grid system may not apply inside of city limits, where there is likely to be a zero point at the center of the city, and so there may in fact be quite a lot of low house numbers in the first blocks of those city streets anyway.

So, the trick becomes how to quantify "most American cities" and determine whether it is indeed true that they have very few single-digit house numbers. (I suppose you would also have to quantify "very few", huh?) :)

jakeroot

Quote from: empirestate on March 10, 2019, 12:24:38 AM
So, the trick becomes how to quantify "most American cities" and determine whether it is indeed true that they have very few single-digit house numbers. (I suppose you would also have to quantify "very few", huh?) :)

I have no interest in actually figuring out the specifics of my point that, "very few homes in most American cities have one or two digit house numbers". Though I want to be clear that I was speaking from a western perspective: western numbering schemes extend well into the country, eliminating most chances for a single or double digit house number anywhere except a long narrow stretch of buildings that reside next to, but not on, a "0 St/Ave" or "1 St/Ave".

As it relates to my original point, unless a "Downing St" passes through this narrow corridor, perpendicular to the aforementioned numbered streets, and has buildings on it, there's virtually no chance of a "10 Downing St" in most western cities. In the Northeast? Probably a much better chance, but there's a substantial number of cities in the US outside of the Northeast but inside grid schemes, so there's still a good chance that "most American cities" is correct.

empirestate

Quote from: jakeroot on March 10, 2019, 02:33:32 PM
I have no interest in actually figuring out the specifics of my point that, "very few homes in most American cities have one or two digit house numbers".

No, of course, I wouldn't expect that you would–I'm the one who's curious about that.

QuoteThough I want to be clear that I was speaking from a western perspective: western numbering schemes extend well into the country, eliminating most chances for a single or double digit house number anywhere except a long narrow stretch of buildings that reside next to, but not on, a "0 St/Ave" or "1 St/Ave".

Yes, that was clear at the outset, which is why, as I said, I totally get what you were saying.

QuoteAs it relates to my original point, unless a "Downing St" passes through this narrow corridor, perpendicular to the aforementioned numbered streets, and has buildings on it, there's virtually no chance of a "10 Downing St" in most western cities. In the Northeast? Probably a much better chance, but there's a substantial number of cities in the US outside of the Northeast but inside grid schemes, so there's still a good chance that "most American cities" is correct.

Wouldn't there be a good chance near the center of any number of small municipalities? Dropping in on a few random ones in Google Maps, some cities seem to start their numbering at 0, while others start at 100. (And of course, wouldn't there be more buildings in the cities than in the vastly unpopulated county margins where the zero points of those grids lie?)

Kulerage


jakeroot

Quote from: empirestate on March 10, 2019, 11:36:12 PM
Quote from: jakeroot on March 10, 2019, 02:33:32 PM
As it relates to my original point, unless a "Downing St" passes through this narrow corridor, perpendicular to the aforementioned numbered streets, and has buildings on it, there's virtually no chance of a "10 Downing St" in most western cities. In the Northeast? Probably a much better chance, but there's a substantial number of cities in the US outside of the Northeast but inside grid schemes, so there's still a good chance that "most American cities" is correct.

Wouldn't there be a good chance near the center of any number of small municipalities? Dropping in on a few random ones in Google Maps, some cities seem to start their numbering at 0, while others start at 100. (And of course, wouldn't there be more buildings in the cities than in the vastly unpopulated county margins where the zero points of those grids lie?)

There's a good chance in any small municipality that there's going to be single or double digit house numbers. But I don't believe the name "Downing" has much significance in the US apart from in the New York metro area, where Sir George Downing, 1st Baronet, helped acquire the city from the Dutch. With that in mind, how likely is it that there's a Downing Street in most municipalities to begin with? That's my point, in a nutshell.

empirestate

Quote from: jakeroot on March 13, 2019, 05:13:11 PM
With that in mind, how likely is it that there's a Downing Street in most municipalities to begin with? That's my point, in a nutshell.

It is? I definitely did not get that, since you only mentioned the unlikelihood of one- or two-digit numbers; nothing about the name itself:

Quote from: jakeroot on March 07, 2019, 01:20:17 AM
Very few homes in most American cities have one or two digit house numbers, so I'd imagine any chances of there being an actual "10 Downing St" would be pretty slim.

And also because you literally said that your point was about the numbers:

Quote from: jakeroot on March 10, 2019, 02:33:32 PM
I have no interest in actually figuring out the specifics of my point that, "very few homes in most American cities have one or two digit house numbers".

In any case, it matters not–what I was curious about was that actual statement, even if you meant something else. And you've also said it isn't interesting to you, so I really wouldn't worry about it. I've no interest in forcing something to be of interest to anyone. :-)

jakeroot

Quote from: empirestate on March 13, 2019, 11:33:37 PM
And also because you literally said that your point was about the numbers:

I was only repeating that particular point because that was the part of my comment that you responded to (when you quoted "most American cities").

I did mention the name in the original post, but I was not very to-the-point (making my root point unclear -- my bad!)

Quote from: jakeroot on March 07, 2019, 01:20:17 AM
Very few homes in most American cities have one or two digit house numbers, so I'd imagine any chances of there being an actual "10 Downing St" would be pretty slim. Ontario seems to have a very strange house numbering system that seems to have more in common with other Commonwealth countries, than the rest of Canada; as such, there are more than a few "10 Downing St" addresses in that province.

What I didn't make clear was that, while single or double digit house numbers aren't necessarily common in cities, "Downing Street" is an even less common sight. Having a combination of the two, then, must be decently rare, as that "Downing Street" must also exist, and run through those low-digit grid squares. Of course, in areas without grid squares, all you need is a Downing Street, and you'll probably get that "rare" combo.

ErmineNotyours

As a compliment to the Uncommon Suffixes thread, here's Road Street in La Conner, Washington.  I'm still looking for Street Road.

Road Street, La Conner, WA by Arthur Allen, on Flickr

empirestate

Quote from: ErmineNotyours on March 24, 2019, 09:23:30 PM
As a compliment to the Uncommon Suffixes thread, here's Road Street in La Conner, Washington.  I'm still looking for Street Road.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_Route_132



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