Streets named for Martin Luther King

[DTComposer]

http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/18/us/martin-luther-king-jr-streets/index.html

I remember the Chris Rock routine and then noticing just how right he was - both the MLK streets in Long Beach (where I lived at the time) and Los Angeles were in low-income, higher-crime parts of town.

I don't want this to get political, racial, classist or otherwise, but I'm wondering what others' experience with an MLK street has been, and, if they do match what is described in the article, if their cities have made efforts to upgrade/beautify/clean up/etc. the street.

[Zeffy]

Camden's MLK street is the main thoroughfare to the Waterfront. It's actually not that bad. In Baltimore, it functions as a arterial connecting I-395 with the edges of Downtown, and providing access to Camden Yards (Home of the Baltimore Orioles).

Trenton's is not the nicest part of town to be in...

Also, ISTR reading that MLK streets were named after parts of the city where African Americans were most populous.

[Brandon]

Chicago's begins at McCormick Place and heads south through the South Side.  It goes through Bronzeville, an historic African American neighborhood, along the edge of Washington Park, by Chicago State University, and ends at 115th Street in Pullman, a majority white neighborhood.  There are couple of small streets that continue the name south of 130th Street as they are along the same grid line.

In a way, it connects black and white, education, commerce, tourism, and recreation.

[kj3400]

Camden's MLK street is the main thoroughfare to the Waterfront. It's actually not that bad. In Baltimore, it functions as a arterial connecting I-395 with the edges of Downtown, and providing access to Camden Yards (Home of the Baltimore Orioles).

Trenton's is not the nicest part of town to be in...

Also, ISTR reading that MLK streets were named after parts of the city where African Americans were most populous.

To.piggyback on:
MLK Jr Blvd in Baltimore used to be called City Blvd. I wasn't around when they changed it so I wouldn't know exactly when it was.
MLK Jr Blvd runs from 395 all the way to what I call State/Cultural Center from the metro and light rail stations nearby, though there may be a different name for the area.

[roadfro]

In Nevada:

Las Vegas/North Las Vegas: Martin L. King Blvd (originally named Highland Drive, renamed in the late 80s/early 90s). Starts just west of downtown Las Vegas and heads north. On the south end is some larger commercial properties in a decent area. Then passes under US 95 and goes along the west edges of the 'Historic Westside' neighborhood, which is the historically black neighborhood--although MLK is a major arterial road and this portion is in pretty good shape having seen some new business parks and street revitalization/widening within the past 5-10 years. Entering North Las Vegas, MLK passes through some more industrial areas before getting to more affluent housing areas of that city.

Reno: Martin Luther King Jr Highway. Name for the US 395/I-580 freeway from southern Reno all the way north to the California state line at Bordertown.

[peterj920]

Milwaukee's Dr. MLK Dr starts at McKinley Ave at the nort edge of Downtown and runs north for about 2 miles along what was N 3rd St.  It then curves northwest for a mile and ends at Capitol Dr.  It then turns back into Green Bay Ave.

The street goes through a commercial district where a lot of African Americans shop, but the other part of it travels through a crime ridden area. 

Milwaukee also has a Cesar Chavez Dr that runs through a Hispanic neighborhood. 

[Bruce]

Fun fact: Both of the Seattle-area light rail systems will soon have segments on two different streets named after MLK: Central Link in Seattle has ran on Martin Luther King Jr. Way S since it opened in 2009; Tacoma Link (more like a streetcar) will soon get an extension up onto Tacoma's own Martin Luther King Jr. Way in a few years.

[US71]

Fayetteville, AR renamed 6th St as Martin Luther King Jr Blvd several years back.

MS 1 is Dr Martin Luther King Jr Blvd. Wire-hung street signs at US 82 say DR MLK JR BLVD

[pumpkineater2]

This morning, I noticed that at the intersection of 99th& maryland avenues in Glendale, AZ a white on blue street blade bearing the words "Dr Martin Luther King Jr Blvd." had been installed on the light mast, so there were two names posted for this one road (maryland ave.). Though the regular white on green sign with the usual name remained, so no doubt that the name change is temporary.

[Kacie Jane]

Fun fact: Both of the Seattle-area light rail systems will soon have segments on two different streets named after MLK: Central Link in Seattle has ran on Martin Luther King Jr. Way S since it opened in 2009; Tacoma Link (more like a streetcar) will soon get an extension up onto Tacoma's own Martin Luther King Jr. Way in a few years.

To relate it to the OP: the segment of MLK Way through the Central District (due east of downtown) is definitely through a poorer area of the city, and south of there through Rainier Valley was probably as bad or worse.  However, as Link has brought new development, sections of the Rainier Valley are much improved.

[Duke87]

125th Street in Manhattan is also known as "Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd", but no one calls it that. It's in Harlem, though, so it fits the bill.

In Staten Island, the "Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Expressway" is formerly known as the Willowbrook Expressway. Whites are the largest ethnic group in the area although there are significant numbers of various minorities. Sort of fits the bill, maybe.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd in White Plains, NY, was formerly known as Grove Street. It's in the middle of downtown but it does also run right past the local public housing projects, so...



Two other things I notice about the trend:
1) Streets named after MLK end in "Boulevard" with disproportionate frequency. I guess it sounds grander that way.
2) When things are named after him they almost always use his full name despite it being a mouthful and cumbersome to fit on signs.
This is somewhat understandable, though, since he has a rather generic last name, so if you followed the more traditional method of just using that, it would be unobvious who it was named for. Indeed, there are numerous places with a "King Street" or similar that has had that name since before MLK was even born, and are named either after someone else with the same last name, or in honor of a monarch.

[jakeroot]

Fun fact: Both of the Seattle-area light rail systems will soon have segments on two different streets named after MLK: Central Link in Seattle has ran on Martin Luther King Jr. Way S since it opened in 2009; Tacoma Link (more like a streetcar) will soon get an extension up onto Tacoma's own Martin Luther King Jr. Way in a few years.

To relate it to the OP: the segment of MLK Way through the Central District (due east of downtown) is definitely through a poorer area of the city, and south of there through Rainier Valley was probably as bad or worse.  However, as Link has brought new development, sections of the Rainier Valley are much improved.

The MLK Jr Way in Tacoma runs through Hill Top, which is easily one of the poorest areas of Tacoma (and is also well known for its large black community and gangs, though the latter has been on the decline in recent years).

[mariethefoxy]

The Wilmington DE one seems to be in one of the areas of that city that isn't too ghetto. Its basically a connector from Downtown to I-95, and possibly also a DE state highway but im not sure.

[slorydn1]

Here in New Bern it runs what was named Clarendon Blvd from the Neuse Blvd split (at that time the split between US-17 and NC-55) all the way to what was the city limits on US-17 South at that time (now US-17 Business). So, basically it starts where the rundown part of town ends and goes through the heart of our shopping district. Business owners fought it tooth and nail because it forced them to have to change stationary, business cards, advertisements (etc). They lost.

[PHLBOS]

A more recent rename: Philly's Martin Luther King (Jr.) Drive (originally West River Drive) runs through West Fairmount Park along the western bank of the Schuylkill River.

[Chris19001]

A more recent rename: Philly's Martin Luther King (Jr.) Drive (originally West River Drive) runs through West Fairmount Park along the western bank of the Schuylkill River.

And just to backup the above for those not familiar with the area, this is one of the most scenic roads in the town.  It begins next to the Falls bridge and ends right next to the Philly Museum of Art.

[cl94]

Columbus renamed the block of St. Clair Avenue connecting Spring Street and Mt. Vernon Avenue to MLK Jr. Blvd. It's just east of I-71 and it's in a bad neighborhood. To give you an idea, the county department of Job and Family Services is a couple blocks away. Yeah...

Buffalo has a Martin Luther King Park at NY 33 and Best St. Also a miserable neighborhood, but the community (and gangs) gets quite pissed whenever someone gets shot in the park.

[The Nature Boy]

The CBD business loop in Fayetteville, NC is the Martin Luther King Jr. Freeway.

[bzakharin]

Morristown NJ's MLK Avenue starts in an area just east of downtown known for crime and drug use. It leaves this area quickly and gets a lot nicer and suburban, though. It's also a shortcut from downtown to the NJ 24 freeway for those not wanting / able to get on I-287.

[roadman65]

In Kissimmee, FL there is a Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd where the old CSX grade was that is now a roadway using the old RR ROW.  Kissimmee does have a ghetto, but its not there where the new road runs.  However, Kissimmee, FL is growing in Latino populations though.

[TheStranger]

San Diego's Martin Luther King Jr. Freeway (Route 94) received its name in 1989 and might be the only regularly signed freeway name in that city.

Martin Luther King Jr. Way in Oakland/Berkeley is the former Grove Street (prior to 1984) which provides some of the origin of the original (but rarely ever used) Route 24/I-980 moniker, Grove-Shafter Freeway.

Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Sacramento was Sacramento Boulevard prior to the 1980s; it passes through the historically black Oak Park area.  (The northern portion of the old Sacramento Boulevard became part of Broadway in the 1940s)

[freebrickproductions]

Here in Huntsville, we don't have a street named after him (as far as I'm aware), but we do have an elementary school named after him.

[Buffaboy]

Columbus renamed the block of St. Clair Avenue connecting Spring Street and Mt. Vernon Avenue to MLK Jr. Blvd. It's just east of I-71 and it's in a bad neighborhood. To give you an idea, the county department of Job and Family Services is a couple blocks away. Yeah...

Buffalo has a Martin Luther King Park at NY 33 and Best St. Also a miserable neighborhood, but the community (and gangs) gets quite pissed whenever someone gets shot in the park.

It's a park and a street, which I didn't know until I looked on the map; I thought it was just a park.

Sticking with the theme, there's a GA 158 MLK Dr. in the Atlanta area, as well as an expressway called "Freedom Parkway" north of downtown.

[US 41]

13th Street in Terre Haute has brown signs at certain places that call it Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Way. No one calls it that and it is still officially 13th Street. The city went crazy a few years ago and started naming every busy street after someone, although as mentioned none of them are actually official.

[jbnati27]

Here in Cincinnati, Madison Ave turns into Martin Luther King Dr., then it turns into Hopple Street. It skirts the Northern edge of the University of Cincinnati. It's not in the absolute best part of town.