Themed street names

[mukade]

Gary, IN is pretty simple. West of Broadway are the presidents in order and east of Broadway are the states in (almost) order of statehood date. The first nine streets (13 colonies) are out of order and some were skipped.  East-west roads are numbers starting at the steel mills and going south.

Lake Station, IN has alphabetical counties of Indiana, but some were skipped. I'd assume the more recent counties.

I believe the reason why some of the counties are skipped is because their names are used elsewhere, such as for Harrison, Washington, and Ohio. Since those names are already being used, there is no use in repeating it again.

The president-named streets end with Roosevelt, I think. In other words, they never renamed N-S streets for new presidents when they took office. E-W roads are "avenues" and N-S roads are "streets". This naming system also applies in Merrillville and some other areas south (parts of Crown Point and Winfield). I am not sure who the people for the streets to the west of the presidents (Taney, Marshall, Whitcomb, etc.) were.

The nice thing about standards is that you can choose from so many different ones. Just across Cline Avenue, Hammond uses the Chicago Street numbering system so 15th Avenue becomes 169th street. Like the eastern part of Lake County, most western Lake County suburbs to the south of Hammond (except for Dyer) use the Gary road numbering system.

Allen County (Fort Wayne area) has a system that I think is unique. The roads going through the center of each township are named <township name> Center Road. For example, Lafayette Center Rd., St. Joe Center Rd., Washington Center Rd., etc. The roads change name as they enter a new township.

Of more note, most Indiana counties use a common road naming scheme: one mile west of the dividing road is 100W, two miles west is 200W and so on. Same applies for the other directions, of course. So you know that 1250S is 12.5 miles south of the center of the county and you know when numbers change from S to N that you entered a new county. I am not sure you can call that a "theme", but it actually is a pretty good system for a state that is largely built on a grid.

[mgk920]

^^
South Dakota uses a similar 'grid' for naming rural roads, except that it is statewide and the baselines are two of its state lines.

Mike

[1995hoo]

The Friendly Village of Dulles in Virginia–all the streets are named for airlines, many of them defunct.

A couple of streets in Fairfax County are named after characters in the Chronicles of Narnia. Odd that there's no Aslan Court.

An area near where froggie lives has a bunch of streets named for colleges or universities followed by "Drive" (e.g., "Duke Drive," "Vanderbilt Drive," "Tulane Drive").

[tdindy88]

As for the streets to the west of the presidential streets in Lake County, they are either vice presidents or governors, though I'm leaning toward vice presidents, in order of when they took office (minus the ones who became presidents later whose names are already in the system.)

I suppose another county's unique system would be St. Joseph County, where the north-south roads are named for trees and are in alphabetical order from the east going west. The east-west roads are named, I believe, just for people in general, since there is a mix of presidential and non-presidential names in there. But that system starts in the north and heads south. Marshall County to the immediate south continues the "tree" themed streets though it seems they change a few of the names to that of other trees. The east-west roads there are simply numbered roads that start from the north with 1st Road at the one-mile mark south of the county line and continue to 20B Road near the southern county line.

[txstateends]

Amarillo has presidential N-S streets from Washington to Cleveland in their downtown area; numbered avenues south of a downtown railroad yard are labeled SW-SE (most locals call them 'west' or 'east' instead) from 1st to 58th (with a few outlying extra exceptions), then another set north of the railroad yard are NW-NE avenues from 1st to 24th (a few different-named exceptions sneak in here and there).  No more NW or NE 8th, it was renamed years ago to Amarillo Blvd. (the historic US 66 routing).   The Sleepy Hollow area on the west side of town, and surrounding neighborhood to the south, has several east coast/northeast/New England -inspired names (Stuyvesant Ave., White Plains Ave., Catskill Ave., Golden Pond Ct., Tarrytown Ave., Pilgrim Dr., Tappan Zee St., Plymouth Dr., Lexington Square, etc).

Dallas has several groupings; one has several streets that start with 'M' and locals actually call the area the 'M Streets' neighborhood; another is dubbed the 'Disney Streets' neighborhood (Snow White, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dwarfs Cir., etc).

Highland Park and University Park have several streets named for well-known universities (Drexel, St. John's, Cornell, Colgate, Tulane, Dartmouth, Princeton, etc)

Jacksonville has several streets named for other Texas cities (El Paso, Fort Worth, Nacogdoches, Tyler, San Antonio, Dallas, etc).

Lubbock has lettered N-S avenues A-X in the downtown area, numbered E-W streets 1 to over 100, and several sets of alphabetical streets (2 on the north side, both run E-W, neither are full sets; others west of Ave. X are N-S and look more like organized full sets).

Plano has lettered N-S avenues E-R (which were originally named streets, not sure when or why the names changed) and E-W numbered streets 10th-22nd (which were also originally named streets).

Wylie has a trailer park with streets all named for characters on Dallas; the trailer park is about 2-3 miles away from the actual Southfork Ranch.

[iowahighways]

A series of streets in Boone, IA, is named for the counties along US 30 -- from Harrison eastward to Clinton, in order.

[roadman65]

The Ironbound section of Newark, New Jersey (Down Neck) has streets named after presidents of the US except Washington (cause there is a Washington Street elsewhere in the city) and Adams has both between Monroe and Jackson for father and son.
St. Cloud, FL has state named streets, but no New Jersey as it is called "Jersey" and Columbia Avenue for the Nations Capital. No kind of order though.

Garwood, New Jersey has Avenues named after trees.

[US71]

Clydesdale Dr and Hops Dr lead to a local beer distributor in Fayetteville, AR 

[The High Plains Traveler]

Actually when i went to college in St Paul, the streets west of Downtown Minneapolis that go N-S are in alphabetical order.  

There are at least five trips through the alphabet as you go west from Downtown, much of the way through Hennepin County. The names get real quirky when trying to create a name beginning with "Q" or "X". Think "Xylon" or "Ximines".

[huskeroadgeek]

In my hometown of Lincoln, NE we have both numbered and lettered streets(numbered N-S and lettered E-W except for I and Z streets which don't exist). In the older parts of town where streets follow the grid pattern, there are also other E-W streets most of which don't follow any particular naming pattern. In many newer neighborhoods(and a few older ones) where streets are curved and have short circles or courts off of other streets, there are many different themes used for naming streets. Here's a few of them and some examples that fit the categories:

Pilgrims:(Plymouth, Mayflower, Winthrop, Alden, Puritan)
Minerals:(Topaz, Jade, Jasper, Onyx, Agate)
Famous Authors:(Faulkner, Shelley, Kipling, Dickens, Orwell)
Virginia(Old Dominion, Potomac, Blue Ridge, Williamsburg, Lynchburg)
Arizona:(Phoenix, Tucson, Yuma, Tempe, Scottsdale)

[tdindy88]

In my hometown of Lincoln, NE we have both numbered and lettered streets(numbered N-S and lettered E-W except for I and Z streets which don't exist). In the older parts of town where streets follow the grid pattern, there are also other E-W streets most of which don't follow any particular naming pattern. In many newer neighborhoods(and a few older ones) where streets are curved and have short circles or courts off of other streets, there are many different themes used for naming streets. Here's a few of them and some examples that fit the categories:

Pilgrims:(Plymouth, Mayflower, Winthrop, Alden, Puritan)
Minerals:(Topaz, Jade, Jasper, Onyx, Agate)
Famous Authors:(Faulkner, Shelley, Kipling, Dickens, Orwell)
Virginia(Old Dominion, Potomac, Blue Ridge, Williamsburg, Lynchburg)
Arizona:(Phoenix, Tucson, Yuma, Tempe, Scottsdale)

No Nebraska themed streets?

[Takumi]

Colonial Heights has a brief run of parallel avenues that are named after other Virginia cities. From north to south: Richmond, Norfolk, Suffolk, Lynchburg, and Danville. The first three are 3-block long residential streets, Lynchburg is a through route ending at the middle school, and Danville has two segments but also ends at the middle school (actually behind it). There's also a Roanoke Ave on the other side of US 1/301, just north of Richmond.

[huskeroadgeek]

In my hometown of Lincoln, NE we have both numbered and lettered streets(numbered N-S and lettered E-W except for I and Z streets which don't exist). In the older parts of town where streets follow the grid pattern, there are also other E-W streets most of which don't follow any particular naming pattern. In many newer neighborhoods(and a few older ones) where streets are curved and have short circles or courts off of other streets, there are many different themes used for naming streets. Here's a few of them and some examples that fit the categories:

Pilgrims:(Plymouth, Mayflower, Winthrop, Alden, Puritan)
Minerals:(Topaz, Jade, Jasper, Onyx, Agate)
Famous Authors:(Faulkner, Shelley, Kipling, Dickens, Orwell)
Virginia(Old Dominion, Potomac, Blue Ridge, Williamsburg, Lynchburg)
Arizona:(Phoenix, Tucson, Yuma, Tempe, Scottsdale)

No Nebraska themed streets?

We have that too-on the north side of town there are a lot of streets that are counties in Nebraska. Also you will find various other Nebraska-themed streets scattered around, plus Cornhusker Highway, which is the major street in north Lincoln(carries US 6).

[formulanone]

The Friendly Village of Dulles in Virginia—all the streets are named for airlines, many of them defunct..[/url]

I was in Columbus, Georgia a few months back, and near the airport was a residential neighborhood with many of the roads named for different aircraft brands. My nav system wanted me to wind through there (after I'd made a couple of wrong turns), which gave me a chuckle...

I was just outside of Huntsville, Alabama during the holidays, and found a neighborhood of streets comprised of Ford car model names. Another one, not far to the west, are a couple of streets named for computing terms, like Memory Lane and Disk Drive.

The only place in Florida that I can think of that uses its county names for streets is at Florida Atlantic University...but only a couple of them (not all 67).

[kphoger]

At one point, I came up with my own system of street names:

Common first names in the U.S. and Britain, alphabetical order
Major cities worldwide, alphabetical order
Selected popes (chronological order)
Presidents (chronological order)

I was rather proud of the popes idea:  you end up with cool street names like Clement, Pius, Cornelius, Sylvester, Innocent, Anastasius, Leo, Benedict, Zachary, Valentine, Paschal, Nicholas, Julius.....which, IMHO, have more character than Elm and Cypress.

I dispatch for cable installers in northwestern Arkansas.  Bella Vista has an area of streets names after geographical places in Scotland.  Often, when I call a customer, I try and look up the pronunciation of their street name on the internet, because I just have no clue...

[KEK Inc.]

Vancouver, WA has a neighborhood with state names and cities.  Monterey Way and Pasadena Way intersect California St. 

In the Alphabet District of Portland, OR, the streets go up in alphabetical order. 

Ankeny St.
Burnside St.
Couch St.
Davis St.
Everett St.
Flanders St.
Glisan St.
Hoyt St.
Irving St.
Johnson St. 
Kearney St.
Lovejoy St.
Marshall St.
Northrup St.
Overton St.
Pettygrove St.
Quimby St.
Raleigh St.
Savier St.
Thurman St.
Upshur St.
Vaughn St.
Wilson St.
Roosevelt St. (No X...)
York St.
Reed St. (No Z...)

Vancouver does something similar in its downtown, but it's not really too complete. 
Columbia St.
Daniels St.
Esther St.
Franklin St.
Grant St.
Harney St.
Kauffman Ave.
Lincoln Ave.

[TheStranger]

San Francisco's multiple street grids include several with themed names...

the classic "downtown" grid (north of Market Street) involves a mix of local notables (i.e. O'Farrell, Van Ness) and former presidents (Washington, Fillmore) and other historic figures (Columbus).  The Richmond/Sunset "Outer Lands" areas received a grid of local notables (Irving, Noriega, et al.) in alphabetical order, save for Fulton and Lincoln (the former of which is part of the downtown grid, as is Geary and California)

the Excelsior neighborhood is full of streets with names of foreign locales (Geneva, Persia, Russia, Prague, France, Edinburgh et al.)

[BamaZeus]

Vancouver, WA has a neighborhood with state names and cities.  Monterey Way and Pasadena Way intersect California St. 

In the Alphabet District of Portland, OR, the streets go up in alphabetical order. 

Ankeny St.
Burnside St.
Couch St.
Davis St.
Everett St.
Flanders St.
Glisan St.
Hoyt St.
Irving St.
Johnson St. 
Kearney St.
Lovejoy St.
Marshall St.
Northrup St.
Overton St.
Pettygrove St.
Quimby St.
Raleigh St.
Savier St.
Thurman St.
Upshur St.
Vaughn St.
Wilson St.
Roosevelt St. (No X...)
York St.
Reed St. (No Z...)

Vancouver does something similar in its downtown, but it's not really too complete. 
Columbia St.
Daniels St.
Esther St.
Franklin St.
Grant St.
Harney St.
Kauffman Ave.
Lincoln Ave.

And you Simpsons fans will recognize many of the Portland street names, as those were the basis for many of the Simpsons characters: Reverend Lovejoy, Mayor Quimby, Ned Flanders, etc

[empirestate]

Hollywood, Florida uses a presidential theme on its east-west Streets beginning with Washington and ending with Coolidge.  The city's gridiron was laid out in the 1920's.

I was just noticing that Brownsville, TX does this as well, along with a few other cities mentioned downthread. What are some other cities that have the presidents-in-order naming theme? And who is the most recent president to be represented in this fashion (that is, as part of a sequential system, not just an isolated instance)? And no, you can't count LBJ if the street is named for Andrew Johnson. :-)

[formulanone]

Discovered a few weeks ago that a subdivision in Sebring, Florida uses an automotive and racing marque theme as well. There's Porsche, Ferrari, Mercedes, Corvette, Jaguar, Lotus, but also some other automotive brands like Volvo, Lexus, Bentley, Fiat, Aston-Martin, Renault, Lancia and others. What I really smiled at was the obscure stuff like Riley, OSCA, Vanwall, Alpine, Lola, et al making an appearance. 

West Palm Beach has a dual-theme for its downtown core: Floral/tree names arranged alphabetically...Banyan, Clematis, Datura, Evernia, Fern, Gardenia, Hibiscus, and Iris.

[akotchi]

There is a Four Seasons neighborhood in the Odenton, MD area with street names like Fall Ridge Way, Summer Hill Drive and Autumn Valley Lane.

[1995hoo]

There is a Four Seasons neighborhood in the Odenton, MD area with street names like Fall Ridge Way, Summer Hill Drive and Autumn Valley Lane.

When I saw "Four Seasons" I pictured Sherry Street, Walk Like a Man Way, Valli Boulevard .....

[route29]

Something is afoot in Fort Walton Beach, FL - Sherlock Holmes themed streets.
http://g.co/maps/wss8b
Holmes Blvd
Watson Dr
Moriarty St
Baker Ave

[Roadmaestro95]

Long Island has a bunch of themed street names. Montauk Beach in Suffolk County uses the theme of famous Americans (Hamilton, Jay, Cleveland, Houston, McKinley, Stuyvesant, Edison, Harding, Hudson, Taft, Arnold, Revere, Sherman, Wood, Coolidge, Tyler, Hoover, Grant, Adams, Roosevelt, Arthur, Hayes, Bryan, Madison, Franklin, Jackson, Monroe, Easton, Lee, Webster, Washington, Harrison, Jefferson, Lincoln). Montauk itself has three sections: a section of D street names, E street names, and F street names. Mastic uses place names around LI along with famous American names as well. A neighborhood in East Ridge uses Indian Tribal names such as Cherokee, Setauket, and Wauwepex. If you go up to Sound Beach, every street name is named after a town on Long Island (including neighborhoods in Brooklyn & Queens). In South Stony Brook, there are development areas that have designated street names by letter (M section, P section, S section, B section). North Bay Shore uses state names and major cities as their theme on east-west streets and some north-south streets. That theme is also repeated in West Babylon and Lindenhurst (they use NY county names). In Nassau County, a popular names theme is used in Massapequa Park and a cities/states theme is used in Massapequa. Point Lookout uses place names in Nassau County, West Garden City i believe uses British place names (I'm guessing), Atlantic Beach (west of 878) uses popular beach names while the eastern side uses New York county names in alphabetical order (no Z), East Atlantic Beach uses New York state cities and western Long Beach uses state names on their north-south streets. And the area of Great Neck, Kings Point, and University Heights seem to have a recurring theme of British place names on their streets.

[elsmere241]

Right now I'm putting a development into my county's GIS where the streets have a Peter Pan theme: Carrick Court and Honey Locust Drive carry over from neighboring developments, but the other streets are Moira Drive, Neverland Drive, Barrie Road, Smee Road, Banning Drive, Whitebird Drive, Tiger Lily Drive, Starkey Road, Tinker Road, Darling Drive, Starcatcher Drive, Nana Road, and Hook Drive.