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National Boards => General Highway Talk => Topic started by: Roadman66 on October 21, 2011, 05:11:36 PM

Title: Lettered Streets
Post by: Roadman66 on October 21, 2011, 05:11:36 PM
How come there is no Avenue E or Avenue G in Brooklyn, New York?
Title: Re: Brooklyn Lettered Streets
Post by: allniter89 on October 21, 2011, 05:26:02 PM
because those arent letters   :-D
Title: Re: Brooklyn Lettered Streets
Post by: Roadman66 on October 21, 2011, 05:35:35 PM
is that a joke?
Title: Re: Brooklyn Lettered Streets
Post by: agentsteel53 on October 21, 2011, 05:37:45 PM
Quote from: Roadman66 on October 21, 2011, 05:35:35 PM
is that a joke?

it is precisely as serious as your post.
Title: Re: Brooklyn Lettered Streets
Post by: NE2 on October 21, 2011, 06:08:35 PM
Actually not a bad question. Here's a start: http://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/glenwoodpark/ http://books.google.com/books?id=EihNAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA539
Title: Re: Brooklyn Lettered Streets
Post by: Roadman66 on October 21, 2011, 06:09:11 PM
thanks, NE2
Title: Re: Brooklyn Lettered Streets
Post by: Duke87 on October 21, 2011, 07:49:45 PM
Several avenues in the sequence were given other names, usually beginning with the same letter.

A → Albermarle
B → Beverley (or "Beverly", according to the IRT)
C → Clarendon
E → Foster
G → Glenwood
Q → Quentin

Similarly, Washington DC has "Eye Street" instead of "I Street" to avoid confusion with 1(st) Street, and skips J because there was already a Jay Street in town before the grid was laid out. They also have no B Street since Constitution and Independence Avenues are where they should be.


Also, for the future question... Park Avenue and Park Avenue South replace (most of) 4th Avenue in Manhattan, renamed as such after the trains were put under the street in a tunnel thus creating a wide street with a park-ish median - supposedly to encourage the New York Central Railroad to do similarly with the rest of the line. Lexington and Madison break the sequence because they were added in later. Note how the distance between 3rd and Park and between Park and 5th is the same as between 5th and 6th, 6th and 7th, etc.
Title: Re: Brooklyn Lettered Streets
Post by: Michael in Philly on October 21, 2011, 09:44:24 PM
^^I Street in Washington is officially written with the letter I.  "Eye" is a common unofficial spelling, to avoid confusion with 1.

I'm not sure where you get the idea J Street was avoided so as not to conflict with Jay Street.  For starters, there wasn't a Jay Street, or anything else, "in town before the grid was laid out."  There wasn't even a town.  It wasn't clear yet in western languages that I and J were separate letters:  J didn't exist in Latin, it developed as a way of writing I when it functioned as a consonant, a Y sound; in Italian, it's still called "I lunga" - "long I" - and only used in words of foreign origin.  (I'm a language geek too....)
Title: Re: Brooklyn Lettered Streets
Post by: Scott5114 on October 21, 2011, 09:47:59 PM
Quote from: Duke87 on October 21, 2011, 07:49:45 PM
Similarly, Washington DC has "Eye Street" instead of "I Street" to avoid confusion with 1(st) Street, and skips J because there was already a Jay Street in town before the grid was laid out. They also have no B Street since Constitution and Independence Avenues are where they should be.

To my knowledge, that's not true in the case of I Street:
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons%2Fthumb%2Fc%2Fc9%2FDC_i-st.jpg%2F800px-DC_i-st.jpg&hash=eb364cda1f080d63d0bc9562c3a6ed25cf92b9b9)

The one time I've visited DC our hotel was pretty close to I Street. The other blades in DC use Helvetica, but all of the I Street ones use a thick, serif I as in the picture to distinguish more from the 1 (which is pretty distinct from the I in Helvetica anyway, but devoid of context it could be seen as a 1). As for J Street, the story I've always heard was that whoever was naming the street grid had a beef with John Jay (who was at one point Chief Justice of SCOTUS; I'm not sure if he was at the time said beef was occurring), and thus omitted "J" from the grid in order to slight him.
Title: Re: Brooklyn Lettered Streets
Post by: Michael in Philly on October 21, 2011, 09:54:48 PM
^^Urban legend.

http://www.snopes.com/history/american/jstreet.asp

http://askville.amazon.com/street-Washington-DC/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=5959893
Title: Re: Lettered Streets
Post by: Brandon on October 22, 2011, 07:04:40 AM
Chicago has a series of lettered avenues on the southeast side (East Side neighborhood).  IIRC, they go from A to O.  Otherwise, toward the west, they're not lettered, but they tend to start with words starting with "A" and go westward to words starting with "P".
Title: Re: Lettered Streets
Post by: Michael in Philly on October 22, 2011, 10:17:57 AM
^^I spared you the so-called Second, Third and Fourth alphabets in D.C....
Title: Re: Lettered Streets
Post by: Bickendan on October 22, 2011, 03:32:28 PM
Portland has the Alphabet District as follows:
SW/SE Ankeny
W/E Burnside
NW/NE Couch (pronounced cooch)
NW/NE Davis
NW/NE Everett
NW/NE Flanders
NW/NE Glisan (gleesan)
NW/NE Hoyt
NW/NE Irving
NW Johnson/NE Oregon
NW Kearney/NE Pacific
NW Lovejoy/NE Holladay
NW Marshall/NE Multnomah
NW Northrup/NE Wasco
NW Overton/NE Clackamas
NW Pettygrove/NE Halsey
NW Quimby/NE Weidler
NW Raleigh/NE Broadway
NW Savier/NE Schulyer
NW Thurman/NE Hancock
NW Upshur/NE San Rafael
NW Vaughn/NE Tillamook
NW Wilson/NE Thompson
[NW Roosevelt] no X/NE Sacramento
NW York/NE Brazee
[NW Reed] no Z/NE Russell
Title: Re: Lettered Streets
Post by: Quillz on October 22, 2011, 04:15:08 PM
Some cities don't have a 13th street due to superstition.
Title: Re: Lettered Streets
Post by: 1995hoo on October 22, 2011, 04:27:38 PM
Quote from: Quillz on October 22, 2011, 04:15:08 PM
Some cities don't have a 13th street due to superstition.

Whereas DC even has a 13-1/2 Street NW. Used to be an important shortcut back in the 1980s (less so now due to newer construction).
Title: Re: Lettered Streets
Post by: OCGuy81 on October 22, 2011, 06:17:19 PM
QuotePortland has the Alphabet District as follows:
SW/SE Ankeny
W/E Burnside
NW/NE Couch (pronounced cooch)
NW/NE Davis
NW/NE Everett
NW/NE Flanders
NW/NE Glisan (gleesan)
NW/NE Hoyt
NW/NE Irving
NW Johnson/NE Oregon
NW Kearney/NE Pacific
NW Lovejoy/NE Holladay
NW Marshall/NE Multnomah
NW Northrup/NE Wasco
NW Overton/NE Clackamas
NW Pettygrove/NE Halsey
NW Quimby/NE Weidler
NW Raleigh/NE Broadway
NW Savier/NE Schulyer
NW Thurman/NE Hancock
NW Upshur/NE San Rafael
NW Vaughn/NE Tillamook
NW Wilson/NE Thompson
[NW Roosevelt] no X/NE Sacramento
NW York/NE Brazee
[NW Reed] no Z/NE Russell

Flanders, Lovejoy, Quimby!! Gotta love the way Matt Groening used Portland streets as Simpsons characters.  :-P
Title: Re: Lettered Streets
Post by: sp_redelectric on October 24, 2011, 01:12:47 AM
Quote from: Bickendan on October 22, 2011, 03:32:28 PM
Portland has the Alphabet District as follows:

McMinnville, Oregon does the same as well, in the N.E. and to a lesser extent S.E. quadrant:

Adams Street
Baker Street
Cowls Street
Davis Street
Evans Street
Ford Street
Galloway Street
Hembree Street
Irvine Street
Johnson Street
Kirby Street
Logan Street
Macy Street
Newby Street
Oak Street
(And the pattern is broken there, as the next and final street is Oregon Street.)

The pattern starts on the NW quadrant by using the names of trees:
N.W. Alder Street
Birch Street
Cedar Street
(pattern is broken by Yamhill Street)
Elm Street (the last street in the series)
The next and final two streets in the grid are Thomsen Lane and Michelbrook Lane.
Title: Re: Lettered Streets
Post by: Takumi on October 24, 2011, 10:09:27 AM
There's a neighborhood with lettered avenues in my town. The sequence is A, B, C, D, E, F, and finally, Brame.
Title: Re: Lettered Streets
Post by: akotchi on October 24, 2011, 12:47:58 PM
Boston has an alphabetized grid starting at the west edge of Boston Common

Arlington, Berkeley, Clarendon, Dartmouth, Exeter, Fairfield, Gloucester and Hereford, east to west.
Title: Re: Lettered Streets
Post by: huskeroadgeek on October 24, 2011, 01:51:53 PM
My hometown of Lincoln, NE has lettered streets except for I Street and Z Street, which are left out because of the similarity to the numbers 1 and 2. Also, for reasons I'm not sure of-V Street is replaced by Vine Street except for a small 1 block portion running underneath I-180 that is marked as V Street(it is disjointed from the rest of Vine Street).
Title: Re: Lettered Streets
Post by: agentsteel53 on October 24, 2011, 02:07:45 PM
Quote from: huskeroadgeek on October 24, 2011, 01:51:53 PM
My hometown of Lincoln, NE has lettered streets except for I Street and Z Street, which are left out because of the similarity to the numbers 1 and 2. Also, for reasons I'm not sure of-V Street is replaced by Vine Street except for a small 1 block portion running underneath I-180 that is marked as V Street(it is disjointed from the rest of Vine Street).

is there an O street?  I seem to recall there being one.  zeroth street hardly ever exists, so there's likely no confusion there.
Title: Re: Lettered Streets
Post by: 1995hoo on October 24, 2011, 02:38:01 PM
Quote from: akotchi on October 24, 2011, 12:47:58 PM
Boston has an alphabetized grid starting at the west edge of Boston Common

Arlington, Berkeley, Clarendon, Dartmouth, Exeter, Fairfield, Gloucester and Hereford, east to west.

That sort of thing is fairly common, either on an official basis or otherwise. For example, DC's single-letter street names have been mentioned in this thread. Once they got to the end of the single-letter names (W Street, as there are no X, Y, or Z Streets) they started over again with alphabetical names having two syllables (e.g., Biltmore Street, Calvert Street, Porter Street, Yuma Street), and after that alphabet ran out they then used three-syllable names (e.g., Albemarle Street, Chesapeake Street). Northwest DC has a fourth alphabet that mostly uses botanical names (e.g., Myrtle Street, Orchid Street, Tulip Street) without regard to the number of syllables. Of course there are a few exceptions to all these rules. As a practical matter, though, the number of syllables in a DC street name will give you a rough sense for how far out from the Capitol you have to go. (Avenues are not part of the system, BTW.)

Across the river in Virginia, Arlington County carries it a step further. North-south streets (i.e., routes with "Street" in the name; "roads," "lanes," drives," etc. are exceptions to the rule) start with a one-syllable alphabet closest to the Potomac River and work west, then there's a two-syllable alphabet, then a three, and finally a single four-syllable street name (Arizona Street) that, as far as I could tell when I drove on it one day, doesn't appear on any street sign but does appear on a park sign for a park where one of the old DC boundary stones is located. What makes it confusing to a lot of people who haven't studied the system is that most of the local named and numbered streets are not thru streets but the street names are repeated. For example, looking at a map I count four disconnected South Buchanan Streets and four disconnected North Buchanan Streets. Figuring out the block numbers on the named streets is easy enough if you know that the intersecting numbered street tells you the block number, just like in many other places (example, the 1600 block is between 16th and 17th Streets). The hard part is knowing which part of a numbered street you have to go to if you need to find a particular block number and you don't have a navigation device or weren't told where to go. The county publishes a chart to give people that information. While the overall naming system has a sound pattern to it, the need for a block number chart for numbered streets isn't necessarily the most accessible system for someone new to the area!

Aside from those sorts of formal systems, I can think of a number of neighborhoods where the developers assigned alphabetical names. In those sorts of situations there's no inherent advantage like there is in the DC, Boston, or Arlington systems, so it's more just the developer trying to be cute or something.
Title: Re: Lettered Streets
Post by: huskeroadgeek on October 24, 2011, 05:20:57 PM
Quote from: agentsteel53 on October 24, 2011, 02:07:45 PM
Quote from: huskeroadgeek on October 24, 2011, 01:51:53 PM
My hometown of Lincoln, NE has lettered streets except for I Street and Z Street, which are left out because of the similarity to the numbers 1 and 2. Also, for reasons I'm not sure of-V Street is replaced by Vine Street except for a small 1 block portion running underneath I-180 that is marked as V Street(it is disjointed from the rest of Vine Street).

is there an O street?  I seem to recall there being one.  zeroth street hardly ever exists, so there's likely no confusion there.

Yes, in fact O Street is the main street in Lincoln-carrying US 34 from the east and US 6 from the west. It fairly well divides the city into North and South(it is also the dividing point for North and South addresses).
Title: Re: Lettered Streets
Post by: Duke87 on October 24, 2011, 06:53:57 PM
Brooklyn has an alphabetical sequence of streets in Greenpoint: Ash, Box, Clay, Dupont, Eagle, Freeman, Green, Huron, India, Java, Kent, (Greenpoint Ave), Milton, Noble, Oak.
Title: Re: Lettered Streets
Post by: twinsfan87 on October 24, 2011, 07:26:02 PM
Northern Hennepin County, MN has a very extensive alphabetical street naming system for north-south streets that runs at least 6 times through the alphabet (including Q, X, and Z). It's really helpful to give directions to out-of-towners, especially when the streets are grid (such as in Minneapolis) and not so much when they are curvy (see Maple Grove and Plymouth for example). Hennepin County also numbers the east-west streets. MUCH less confusing than St. Paul/Ramsey County's street system!
Title: Re: Lettered Streets
Post by: sp_redelectric on October 24, 2011, 11:01:25 PM
Vancouver, Washington has lettered streets to the east of downtown.  However there is no "A Street" (where Main Street is) nor is there a "B Street (where Broadway is) but every other letter exists, including J Street which appears to have been moved slightly to the west to accommodate I-5.  "I", "O", "Q" and "Z" all exist.
Title: Re: Lettered Streets
Post by: DeaconG on October 24, 2011, 11:55:02 PM
Philadelphia has lettered streets in the Juniata Park/Feltonville neighborhood...and yes, there's a O street!

I remember driving through that neighborhood two years ago and being absolutely amazed...
Title: Re: Lettered Streets
Post by: empirestate on October 25, 2011, 12:29:57 AM
Quote from: akotchi on October 24, 2011, 12:47:58 PM
Boston has an alphabetized grid starting at the west edge of Boston Common

Arlington, Berkeley, Clarendon, Dartmouth, Exeter, Fairfield, Gloucester and Hereford, east to west.

Followed by Ipswich, though the sequence is interrupted by Mass. Ave.
Title: Re: Lettered Streets
Post by: 1995hoo on October 25, 2011, 07:47:21 AM
Quote from: DeaconG on October 24, 2011, 11:55:02 PM
Philadelphia has lettered streets in the Juniata Park/Feltonville neighborhood...and yes, there's a O street!

I remember driving through that neighborhood two years ago and being absolutely amazed...

I thought in Philadelphia the "alphabet" would consist solely of "F" followed by "U," repeating to infinity.  :biggrin:
Title: Re: Lettered Streets
Post by: ftballfan on October 25, 2011, 10:48:29 AM
Grand Rapids, MI, west of US-131 and north of Hall St, has three lettered streets (A St and B St, which run parallel from Grandville Ave to Oakland Ave and E Ave, which is basically a glorified alleyway [yes, I drove it] between Hall St and Curve St).
Title: Re: Lettered Streets
Post by: Michael in Philly on October 25, 2011, 01:32:37 PM
Quote from: 1995hoo on October 25, 2011, 07:47:21 AM
Quote from: DeaconG on October 24, 2011, 11:55:02 PM
Philadelphia has lettered streets in the Juniata Park/Feltonville neighborhood...and yes, there's a O street!

I remember driving through that neighborhood two years ago and being absolutely amazed...

I thought in Philadelphia the "alphabet" would consist solely of "F" followed by "U," repeating to infinity.  :biggrin:

[snarl]
Title: Re: Lettered Streets
Post by: DeaconG on October 25, 2011, 01:45:17 PM
Quote from: Michael in Philly on October 25, 2011, 01:32:37 PM
Quote from: 1995hoo on October 25, 2011, 07:47:21 AM
Quote from: DeaconG on October 24, 2011, 11:55:02 PM
Philadelphia has lettered streets in the Juniata Park/Feltonville neighborhood...and yes, there's a O street!

I remember driving through that neighborhood two years ago and being absolutely amazed...

I thought in Philadelphia the "alphabet" would consist solely of "F" followed by "U," repeating to infinity.  :biggrin:

[snarl]

"But officer, all I saw was some guy in a Flyers jersey beat this guy with a hockey stick 'til it broke and drove away!" :-D :)
Disclaimer: I was born and raised in West Philly...
Title: Re: Lettered Streets
Post by: 1995hoo on October 25, 2011, 02:17:17 PM
Quote from: Michael in Philly on October 25, 2011, 01:32:37 PM
Quote from: 1995hoo on October 25, 2011, 07:47:21 AM
Quote from: DeaconG on October 24, 2011, 11:55:02 PM
Philadelphia has lettered streets in the Juniata Park/Feltonville neighborhood...and yes, there's a O street!

I remember driving through that neighborhood two years ago and being absolutely amazed...

I thought in Philadelphia the "alphabet" would consist solely of "F" followed by "U," repeating to infinity.  :biggrin:

[snarl]

I thought most Philly-area folks took some level of pride in that sort of reputation, or at least most Philly sports fans do. (I say that seriously. My prior comment was meant as a good-natured joke.)
Title: Re: Lettered Streets
Post by: agentsteel53 on October 25, 2011, 02:53:59 PM
Quote from: 1995hoo on October 25, 2011, 02:17:17 PM
Quote from: Michael in Philly on October 25, 2011, 01:32:37 PM

[snarl]

I thought most Philly-area folks took some level of pride in that sort of reputation, or at least most Philly sports fans do. (I say that seriously. My prior comment was meant as a good-natured joke.)

Philly residents show affection by snarling.  if they don't like you, they throw Santa Claus's batteries at you.
Title: Re: Lettered Streets
Post by: Michael in Philly on October 25, 2011, 04:18:20 PM
^^Wait, Santa Claus is battery-operated?  :-O
Title: Re: Lettered Streets
Post by: Bickendan on October 25, 2011, 09:51:16 PM
Didn't you know?
Title: Re: Lettered Streets
Post by: ClarkE on October 26, 2011, 02:02:24 AM
Louisville, KY once had lettered streets, but all but one have been renamed. There is a lonely "M" Street just north of Churchill Downs. A large church that has since moved out of the neighborhood still has the name "Ninth and O Baptist Church" as it was once located at the corner of 9th Street and O Street (now Heywood Ave.). According to the church website, O Street was changed back in 1926.
Title: Re: Lettered Streets
Post by: Kacie Jane on October 27, 2011, 10:45:54 PM
Bellingham, WA has four alphabets (although none are complete), which seems like a lot for a city of its size.



The first two are located just north of downtown and are perpendicular to each other.  Grid #3 is located south of downtown and is parallel to #1.  #4 is located east of downtown.
Title: Re: Lettered Streets
Post by: relaxok on October 28, 2011, 08:21:55 PM
Quote from: akotchi on October 24, 2011, 12:47:58 PM
Boston has an alphabetized grid starting at the west edge of Boston Common

Arlington, Berkeley, Clarendon, Dartmouth, Exeter, Fairfield, Gloucester and Hereford, east to west.

Ahhh memories!!  I lived on Newbury St between Fairfield and Gloucester :) and I always was upset Hereford went to... Mass Ave, afterwards.  

My current town of San Rafael, California has a set of lettered streets A St through K St, perpendicular to 1st St through 5th St... And on the map anyway, there is an 'Eye St' where I St would be.

Yep, just checked the street view of Eye St at 5th Ave (which 5th St turns into) and the sign does indeed say Eye St.

(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fbh.polpo.org%2Feyest.jpg&hash=0eec7d42ecd79adcd1525e698241775c55a6a2fb)
Title: Re: Lettered Streets
Post by: SidS1045 on November 08, 2011, 02:17:34 PM
Quote from: empirestate on October 25, 2011, 12:29:57 AM
Quote from: akotchi on October 24, 2011, 12:47:58 PM
Boston has an alphabetized grid starting at the west edge of Boston Common

Arlington, Berkeley, Clarendon, Dartmouth, Exeter, Fairfield, Gloucester and Hereford, east to west.

Followed by Ipswich, though the sequence is interrupted by Mass. Ave.


...followed by Jersey and Kilmarnock.
Title: Re: Lettered Streets
Post by: SidS1045 on November 08, 2011, 02:19:08 PM
Quote from: Duke87 on October 21, 2011, 07:49:45 PM
Several avenues in the sequence were given other names, usually beginning with the same letter.

A → Albermarle
B → Beverley (or "Beverly", according to the IRT)
C → Clarendon
E → Foster
G → Glenwood
Q → Quentin

Er, almost.  F is Foster Avenue, E is Newkirk Avenue.  Also, D is, for some of its route, Ditmas Avenue.
Title: Re: Lettered Streets
Post by: Duke87 on November 08, 2011, 07:44:17 PM
Quote from: SidS1045 on November 08, 2011, 02:19:08 PM
Quote from: Duke87 on October 21, 2011, 07:49:45 PM
Several avenues in the sequence were given other names, usually beginning with the same letter.

A → Albermarle
B → Beverley (or "Beverly", according to the IRT)
C → Clarendon
E → Foster
G → Glenwood
Q → Quentin

Er, almost.  F is Foster Avenue, E is Newkirk Avenue.  Also, D is, for some of its route, Ditmas Avenue.

I don't think the diagonal band of avenues west of Flatbush Ave really factors into this, although it does somewhat depend on where you look. There is actually a section of Avenue F that exists between Dahill Rd and Ocean Pkwy. But if you look east of Flatbush Ave, the sequence is Beverley, Clarendon, D, Foster, Farragut, Glenwood, H, I, J, etc. Hence why E = Foster. F = Farragut here.

Incidentally, there is also a section of Avenue C not named Clarendon Rd between Dahill Rd and Coney Island Ave
Title: Re: Lettered Streets
Post by: apeman33 on November 09, 2011, 01:30:23 PM
Dodge City has Avenues A through P. I'm pretty sure I is included but I don't know for certain if O is.

Garden City, Kan. only has A, B and C streets. They serve to fill in gaps between 8th and Main north of Kansas Avenue. 8th straightens out and becomes due north-south about three blocks north of downtown but Main continues along the slightly NE angle for another 1 1/2 miles. A and B start at the same street (Holmes). C doesn't begin for another four blocks (Edwards).
Title: Re: Lettered Streets
Post by: US71 on November 09, 2011, 02:15:12 PM
Fort Smith, AR has North and South  A through Z (running East -West)

Then (south side only) cities Atlanta-Yuma and Zero St.

Title: Re: Lettered Streets
Post by: mapman1071 on November 12, 2011, 12:33:44 AM
Manhattan Lower East Side/Alphabet City
Avenue A - D
Title: Re: Lettered Streets
Post by: sandwalk on November 12, 2011, 12:11:09 PM
My hometown of Sandusky, Ohio has no rhyme or reason to their lettered streets.

There is: 
A Street in the west-central part of town
C Street in the southeast part of town
E and F Streets in the northeast part of town

WTF were they thinking? LOL

For that matter, the numbered streets are even weirder (if that's a word):
1st through 8th Street (no 7th)
12th through 15th Street
42nd through 52nd Street (even numbers only)

Oh and FYI: 15th Street and 52nd Street are only separated by one city block.