Why are there so many roads named after trees?

[briantroutman]

Regarding tree-named streets in general, we might associate the practice with the fake pastoralism of modern suburbia, but it goes back at least as far as the founding of Philadelphia. In laying out the plan for the city, William Penn expressed his desire to build a "greene country towne" , so it's quite possible that the selection of tree names for streets was an attempt to further that theme.

Additionally, Philadelphia's rectilinear street grid represented a noticeable break from the street patterns of European cities, which tended to grow haphazardly over centuries with crooked streets meeting each other at irregular angles. Compare the street pattern of Center City Philadelphia to that of Boston or Lower Manhattan, both of which grew ad hoc in a more European fashion. The grid patten became prevalent in other American cities as the country expanded westward.

So I would imagine that as other American city planners took some inspiration from Philadelphia's grid pattern, they also borrowed the city's tree-named streets, numbered streets, or both.

[triplemultiplex]

It's a classic street naming theme: name it after what ever you had to bulldoze to build the dumb road.
Trees, flowers, wildlife, crops, human beings...

[kphoger]

human beings...

Man, I was in the middle of swallowing some tea when I read that.  Almost choked!   

[sparker]

It's a classic street naming theme: name it after what ever you had to bulldoze to build the dumb road.
Trees, flowers, wildlife, crops, human beings...

If you had to bulldoze all those things to build a dumb road, what did Virginia Tech have to bulldoze to build their Smart Road?  Just wondering!

[kphoger]

It's a classic street naming theme: name it after what ever you had to bulldoze to build the dumb road.
Trees, flowers, wildlife, crops, human beings...

If you had to bulldoze all those things to build a dumb road, what did Virginia Tech have to bulldoze to build their Smart Road?  Just wondering!

Smart human beings.

[theline]

For what it's worth, I grew up on Mulberry Street, and we had a mulberry tree in the back yard. Our neighbor had walnut trees. The street behind us was Walnut Street. I strongly suspect that the presence of the trees was just coincidental to the street names. The streets were named long before these trees came along.

Edit: finished my entry after bumping "save" button while typing.

[kkt]

isn't it too hard?

That's what she said.

Wow, thanks for the memories of that long-ago meme...

[kkt]

I seem to remember some towns planting rows of street trees of the variety indicated by the street name.  Cute, or obsessive-compulsive?

[Roadgeekteen]

isn't it too hard?

That's what she said.

Wow, thanks for the memories of that long-ago meme...

I vaugly know that meme.

[lepidopteran]

There was a joke in MAD Magazine's "Lighter Side" comic, where a real-estate developer points to a small forest of oak, pine, and maple trees.  He says that after they clear the land, a new residential subdivision will be built there.  When someone asks what its streets will be named, he's like, what else?  Oak Street, Pine Street, and Maple Street!

[1995hoo]

There aren't enough famous people to name roads after?

There are tons of famous people. If you would like to name roads after all of them is a different question.

Indeed this afternoon we will be in a city that has a street that is not named after a certain famous person but that can't help bring his name to mind:

https://goo.gl/maps/GmcvZpXfrxF2

Regarding demolishing trees, there's a neighborhood near my parents' house called "Maple Trace." My mom says that's because you can't find even a trace of a maple there anymore.

[TheArkansasRoadgeek]

We love our trees

"Love" our trees...

*Continues to clear forest and rainforest trees 24/7...

[paulthemapguy]

This thread is gold.

Tree streets are the only reason I know the words Basswood, Birch, Cedar, Cypress, Catalpa, Dogwood, Elm, Hickory, Juniper, Locust, Maple, Oak, Pine, Poplar, Quince, Spruce, Walnut, Willow.

Other tree types I've seen on streets include Ash, Cherry, Aspen, Evergreen, Fir, Hemlock, Larch, Linden, Mulberry, Plum, Sycamore.  Many of these I learned from the landscaping menus in Roller Coaster Tycoon.

Any other ones to list?

[Chris19001]

Any other ones to list?

Don't forget Ebony, Makore or Sapele..

[kkt]

or Hawthorn.

[formulanone]

This thread is gold.

Tree streets are the only reason I know the words Basswood, Birch, Cedar, Cypress, Catalpa, Dogwood, Elm, Hickory, Juniper, Locust, Maple, Oak, Pine, Poplar, Quince, Spruce, Walnut, Willow.

Other tree types I've seen on streets include Ash, Cherry, Aspen, Evergreen, Fir, Hemlock, Larch, Linden, Mulberry, Plum, Sycamore.  Many of these I learned from the landscaping menus in Roller Coaster Tycoon.

Any other ones to list?

There's loads of palm tree, oak, pine, and cypress-named streets in Florida. You'll learn of varieties you didn't know existed.

Maybe if we had a street for Schinus terebinthifolius, the nuisance of Brazilian Pepper Trees would also get removed (it's Florida's kudzu).

[kphoger]

This thread is gold.

Tree streets are the only reason I know the words Basswood, Birch, Cedar, Cypress, Catalpa, Dogwood, Elm, Hickory, Juniper, Locust, Maple, Oak, Pine, Poplar, Quince, Spruce, Walnut, Willow.

Other tree types I've seen on streets include Ash, Cherry, Aspen, Evergreen, Fir, Hemlock, Larch, Linden, Mulberry, Plum, Sycamore.  Many of these I learned from the landscaping menus in Roller Coaster Tycoon.

Any other ones to list?

There might be a couple of streets named Peach Tree in Georgia.
[/understatement]

[US 89]

There might be a couple of streets named Peach Tree in Georgia.
[/understatement]

I was just there, and you really can get lost if you're not paying close attention.

Also, I don't remember where, but at least one city/town I've been to names their streets after trees in alphabetical order (Ash, Birch, Cedar, Dogwood, etc.).

[tdindy88]

St. Joseph County, Indiana does this with their main north-south county roads, alphabetical order and named after trees starting at the eastern border of the county and continuing west at each mile.

[Bickendan]

"Suburbs: Where they cut down the trees and name the streets after them"
Snarky refrigerator magnet my mom used to have.

[Scott5114]

There might be a couple of streets named Peach Tree in Georgia.
[/understatement]

I was just there, and you really can get lost if you're not paying close attention.

I'm running a D&D campaign set in the US, and our party just got to Atlanta. Finding your way through the maze of Peachtrees is a DC 18 Survival check...

[kkt]

I'm running a D&D campaign set in the US, and our party just got to Atlanta. Finding your way through the maze of Peachtrees is a DC 18 Survival check...

[hm insulators]

Especially in recent times, a developer that is allowed to name their own streets in the neighborhood they're building often treats the street names as marketing pieces. They think a house on Maple Street is more likely to sell than one on something like Bledsoe Street. They think people will have a positive association with living close to a maple, even if there are no actual maples on that street.

What's the old joke about a subdivision being a place where they cut down all the trees to build houses and then they name the streets after the trees that were cut down.

[kphoger]

Especially in recent times, a developer that is allowed to name their own streets in the neighborhood they're building often treats the street names as marketing pieces. They think a house on Maple Street is more likely to sell than one on something like Bledsoe Street. They think people will have a positive association with living close to a maple, even if there are no actual maples on that street.

What's the old joke about a subdivision being a place where they cut down all the trees to build houses and then they name the streets after the trees that were cut down.

It goes like this:  "A subdivision is a place where they cut down all the trees to build houses and then they name the streets after the trees that were cut down."   

[US 89]

Especially in recent times, a developer that is allowed to name their own streets in the neighborhood they're building often treats the street names as marketing pieces. They think a house on Maple Street is more likely to sell than one on something like Bledsoe Street. They think people will have a positive association with living close to a maple, even if there are no actual maples on that street.

What's the old joke about a subdivision being a place where they cut down all the trees to build houses and then they name the streets after the trees that were cut down.

It goes like this:  "A subdivision is a place where they cut down all the trees to build houses and then they name the streets after the trees that were cut down."   

See Bickendan's post above:

"Suburbs: Where they cut down the trees and name the streets after them"
Snarky refrigerator magnet my mom used to have.