Cities where odd and even addresses switch sides of the street at the baselines

Started by KCRoadFan, May 29, 2021, 11:33:19 PM

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KCRoadFan

As I was clinching US 1 on Street View, going from Maine down to Key West, Florida, I made an interesting observation as I made my way through Washington, DC. Entering the District from Maryland, US 1 follows Rhode Island Avenue NE - which, of course, becomes Rhode Island Avenue NW upon crossing North Capitol Street - before making a left turn to go south on 6th Street NW.

Well, what I noticed was that along the NE section of Rhode Island Avenue, the even numbers were on the north side with the odd numbers on the south - however, when the NE addresses changed to NW, it was the odd numbers that were suddenly on the north with the evens being on the south! It turns out that in DC, the odd and even numbers on east-west streets swap sides of the street upon crossing North or South Capitol Street (depending on where you are exactly). Similarly, on north/south DC streets, north of either the Mall or East Capitol Street (that is, in the NW or NE quadrants), the odd numbers are on the east side and even numbers are on the west, whereas to the south (that is, in SW and SE) it's odds on the west and evens on the east.

As far as other places where this occurs, I've discovered, on my ongoing Street View clinch of US 20, that Rockford, IL, and Michigan City, IN, also do this. From my various travels - both in Street View and in real life - other places I know that use this convention include Atlanta, GA, as well as various towns throughout Missouri (Jefferson City, Macon, Kirksville, Sedalia) and Iowa (Bloomfield).

Aside from the places I've mentioned, what other places might there be around the country - be they big cities, small towns, or anything in between - that do the whole thing of having the odd- and even-numbered addresses switch sides of the street upon crossing the east-west or north-south dividing lines in the street grid? I would be very interested to know.


Konza

Main Line Interstates clinched:  2, 4, 5, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, 17, 19, 20, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 37, 39, 43, 44, 45, 55, 57, 59, 65, 68, 71, 72, 74 (IA-IL-IN-OH), 76 (OH-PA-NJ), 78, 80, 82, 86 (ID), 88 (IL)

Big John


US 89

Vast majority of streets in Utah do this. If you're moving away from the address origin point (i.e. the house numbers increase as you drive), odd address numbers are on the left and evens are on the right.

The exception is Cache County, where evens are on the south and east sides and odds on the north and west sides.

CtrlAltDel

Santa Barbara does this. As the numbers increase, even numbers are on the right.

Also, even though it doesn't have a grid, Paris follows this same even number rule. It makes it easy to find places when you pop out of the métro.
Interstates clinched: 4, 57, 275 (IN-KY-OH), 465 (IN), 640 (TN), 985
State Interstates clinched: I-26 (TN), I-75 (GA), I-75 (KY), I-75 (TN), I-81 (WV), I-95 (NH)

sparker

The odd/even numbering of Sacramento's N-S streets flips at a demarcation line roughly delineated by the E-W UP tracks north of downtown (essentially "A" street).  South of the line even numbers are on the west side of the street, while north of the line, they're on the east side.  As a kid, when I visited my late uncle, his home address in the Arden/Arcade area was 2524, on the east side of his street; his business was in southwest Sacramento; that number, also on the east side of the particular street, was 4329!  Growing up in L.A., where invariably odd numbers were on the north or west sides of streets, that was a bit odd to me -- until I attended college at UCR and, for a while, lived in Grand Terrace in San Bernardino County; the house I shared had an odd number but was located on the south side of the street.  That seemed to be standard SB County practice; when I lived in Hesperia, I also resided in a house on the south side of a street and it carried an odd number as well.  Obviously the idiom varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. 

KCRoadFan

Adding to my thread here. From what I've seen on my US 20 Street View journey, it seems like Ohio - at least the northern section - *loves* to do this. It shows up in both Toledo and Cleveland. (As for elsewhere in the state - the capital, Columbus, has odds on south and west, evens on north and east, consistently throughout the city; I'm not sure of the convention in Cincinnati and Dayton.)



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