2nd Street

[BigMattFromTexas]

Ive heard from many people that the most popular street name is 2nd street
http://geography.about.com/library/faq/blqzstreetname.htm
How funny is this 2nd street of all streets. 
BigMatt

[agentsteel53]

that's because "Main Street" may also be called "Central Street", "1st Street", or the name of the main through highway ... "Lincoln Highway", "National Road", etc...

[mightyace]

that's because "Main Street" may also be called "Central Street", "1st Street", or the name of the main through highway ... "Lincoln Highway", "National Road", etc...

In most towns, anyway.

In my hometown of Bloomsburg, PA, there is a First Street, then Main Street takes the place of 2nd Street, then 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=1+e+main+st+bloomsburg+pa&sll=35.817813,-59.589844&sspn=51.287889,114.169922&ie=UTF8&ll=41.000776,-76.459715&spn=0.01187,0.027874&t=h&z=16&iwloc=A

But, then again, Bloomsburg is the only incorporated "town" in Pennsylvania.  The rest are villages, boroughs, or cities.  And, it's one of the few towns not in the south to have a civil war monument on the town "square".

Turn 180 degrees from the fountain to see the monument!
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=101+w+main+st+bloomsburg+pa&sll=41.002525,-76.458063&sspn=0.01187,0.027874&ie=UTF8&ll=41.002541,-76.458085&spn=0.01187,0.027874&t=h&z=16&iwloc=A&layer=c&cbll=41.002524,-76.458073&panoid=f5j8MgCYlPsq2pFJmh-Vjg&cbp=12,140.04,,0,-1.79

[Ian]

My town is the county seat of Delaware County, PA, and the "main st" is called State Street. Another main street in the town is Baltimore Ave which used to be US 1 before a freeway by-pass of the town. Baltimore Ave is also locally known as "Old Route 1".

i

[WillWeaverRVA]

Richmond actually has TWO 1st Streets because when it absorbed Manchester in 1910, it did not renumber Manchester's numbered streets. The 1st Street north of the James River runs north-south and is a little over a mile long; the one south of the river runs east-west and is only one block long.

Of course, there is also Main Street, which is VA 147, US 60, and VA 5 at various areas. It's important, though it mysteriously becomes Ellwood Avenue at VA 161 (no idea why this is).

[agentsteel53]

so what happens if I send a letter to "15 1st St, Richmond VA" and leave no zipcode?  It gets returned to sender?

[WillWeaverRVA]

It would probably get returned to sender because you didn't specify North, South, East, or West (well, there is no W 1st St); block numbers repeat for each directional prefix. North becomes South at Main Street; East becomes West at Hull Street (US 360). Some of them also exist in different zip codes (W 31st St is in 23225, E 31st St is in 23224, and N & S 31st Sts are in 23223).

[agentsteel53]

oh so "E 1st St" is different from the street that is both "N 1st St" and "S 1st St" (depending on which half of the bisecting axis it is on)?

Brooklyn has three separate grids ... there are the avenues, the streets, and the streets with prefix E.  (Wait, they may be avenues with prefix E... I just know I got crazy lost once there at 4am.  So much for navigating by the sun!)

[BigMattFromTexas]

I menai got that the 1st street was called Main St or whatever but it's still kinda funny 

[WillWeaverRVA]

Yes, southern Richmond uses a different grid than the rest of the city. Hull Street divides east and west (even though Hull Street itself is an east-west route), and Midlothian Turnpike (US 60) divides north and south, IIRC.

In northern Richmond, Main Street divides north and south, and Foushee Street (south of Broad) & St. James Street (north of I-95/I-64) divide east and west.

[Sykotyk]

Salt Lake City uses two streets each way as their axis points:

North and South Temple are the east-west streets. Main and State are the main north-south routes.

Every east-west route north of North Temple is listed as: 100 N, 200 N, 330 N, etc like that. Everything south is 100 S, 200 S, etc.

Every north-south route west is 100 W, 200 W, etc. East is 100 E, 200 E, etc.

The route #s match up with the unit numbers.

In SLC, there's only a few roads that have a true name aside from N Temple, S Temple, State, and Main. Chief among those are Bangerter Highway (major north south expressway west of I-215), California (major east-west street) and Redwood (major north-south route west of I-15).

So, an address would be given as : 715 W 300 N (i.e., 715 units west, 300 units north of the square in SLC).

Some people find it confusing, but I find it to be extremely efficient. just remember which is the unit and which is the street, and make sure you remember the directional suffix.

Also, 100 N might also be called North 1st. 14600 S might be called South 146th, etc.

Then, you wind up with the SLC grid running into the Provo/Orem grid or the Ogden grid.

Even St. George (far south on I-15) uses this setup for their street grid.

Sykotyk

[Bickendan]

The Salt Lake grid method would work well in Portland, though North Portland would pose a special challenge.