San Jose, Costa Rica installs its first street signs

[Brian556]

Appearently their streets were nameless before this. Can you imagine whaht that would be like? I don't see how this situation coild have been tolerated so long.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/49229184/ns/world_news-americas/#__utma=14933801.642140786.1345742048.1349042917.1349060101.79&__utmb=14933801.3.10.1349060101&__utmc=14933801&__utmx=-&__utmz=14933801.1345742048.1.1.utmcsr=(direct)|utmccn=(direct)|utmcmd=(none)&__utmv=14933801.|8=Earned%20By=msnbc%7Ccover=1^12=Landing%20Content=Mixed=1^13=Landing%20Hostname=www.nbcnews.com=1^30=Visit%20Type%20to%20Content=Earned%20to%20Mixed=1&__utmk=149084726

[Kacie Jane]

I think the article states exactly why it was tolerated for so long.  The system worked for the locals, so there was no reason for them to change it.  But as the world becomes more and more globalized, the business world requires a more modern street system.

[mjb2002]

Interesting.

And America installed its first Street Name signs when...in the late 1800s?

[agentsteel53]

I think the article states exactly why it was tolerated for so long.  The system worked for the locals, so there was no reason for them to change it.  But as the world becomes more and more globalized, the business world requires a more modern street system.

indeed, I've had friends go there and the locals told them "from the square with the fountain, proceed three blocks north.  the bank will be on the right" or similar.

[kphoger]

Goodness, that must be an insane number of street signs.  I wonder how well they're actually going to sign the minor streets, though.  My suspicion is that a great number of streets will remain unsigned–those in the poorer neighborhoods.

[flowmotion]

Supposedly in the Soviet era, many Russian streets weren't signed for military security reasons. Once they decided to put up signs, there was often great disagreement about what was the actual name of the street.

[StogieGuy7]

I think the article states exactly why it was tolerated for so long.  The system worked for the locals, so there was no reason for them to change it.  But as the world becomes more and more globalized, the business world requires a more modern street system.

indeed, I've had friends go there and the locals told them "from the square with the fountain, proceed three blocks north.  the bank will be on the right" or similar.

I lived there for a while.  Wonderful people and a fine country.  But when it comes to roads and directions - yikes!  As for street naming, that will take generations to catch on.  And, what's worse about the "directions" is that people will not only reference landmarks, but they reference historical landmarks that no longer exist!  So, you'll get directions like: "past the former City Club Restaurant [long gone], go 2 blocks and turn right where the large mango used to be."   Seriously, I am not making this up.   Brutal for foreigners!   

Because of this, Ticos will frequently stop and ask directions from people on the street.  They don't think twice about it.  Again, it's just part of the culture.  As is mail that doesn't arrive (although some of that is because of theft as well).

[kphoger]

I think the article states exactly why it was tolerated for so long.  The system worked for the locals, so there was no reason for them to change it.  But as the world becomes more and more globalized, the business world requires a more modern street system.

indeed, I've had friends go there and the locals told them "from the square with the fountain, proceed three blocks north.  the bank will be on the right" or similar.

I lived there for a while.  Wonderful people and a fine country.  But when it comes to roads and directions - yikes!  As for street naming, that will take generations to catch on.  And, what's worse about the "directions" is that people will not only reference landmarks, but they reference historical landmarks that no longer exist!  So, you'll get directions like: "past the former City Club Restaurant [long gone], go 2 blocks and turn right where the large mango used to be."   Seriously, I am not making this up.   Brutal for foreigners!   

Because of this, Ticos will frequently stop and ask directions from people on the street.  They don't think twice about it.  Again, it's just part of the culture.  As is mail that doesn't arrive (although some of that is because of theft as well).

Sounds like where I grew up in northwestern Kansas.  At the time, rural roads weren't named at all, so directions to people's farms were often given in relation to other people's farms–hopefully someone you actually knew.  But it worked the same way in town, too:

–Where does Mr Smith live?
–Oh, well, you know where the Joneses used to live, the one that Joe Green and his kids built back in '85?  They live about three or four houses down from there and across the street.
–OK, I didn't even live here in '85.  Do you know what street that is?
–No, I'm sure what the name is.  But it's the one the Joneses used to live on.  You know!
–No, sorry, I don't.
–OK, well, do you know Lizzie Wallace?
–Yeah, she's the one who brings the doughnuts into the coffee shop, right?
–That's her!  She lives on the same street, just two blocks up the other way.
–I mean, I've seen her in the coffee shop, but I don't know where she lives.

. . . and on and on it goes . . .

[realjd]

Google Maps shows a full set of numbered/named streets, and most hotel websites seem to call out the nearest cross streets. Were the streets really unnamed before? The article makes it sound like they were named 30 years ago just not signed.

[ljwestmcsd]

I lived there for a while.  Wonderful people and a fine country.  But when it comes to roads and directions - yikes!  As for street naming, that will take generations to catch on.  And, what's worse about the "directions" is that people will not only reference landmarks, but they reference historical landmarks that no longer exist!  So, you'll get directions like: "past the former City Club Restaurant [long gone], go 2 blocks and turn right where the large mango used to be."   Seriously, I am not making this up.   Brutal for foreigners!   

All areas have things like this. In Louisville, KY, everyone talks about directions in relation to "the old Sears Building," which of course has been remodeled to no longer look like a Sears building. (It's now a Big Lots and other stores). It took me a while to realize which building they were talking about.

When I lived in Cupertino, CA, locals refered to Matilda Ave./Sunnyvale-Saratoga Rd./De Anza Blvd./Saratoga-Sunnyvale Rd. [same street] as "Old Highway Nine," decades after they rerouted the highway onto another road.

[relaxok]

Truly amazing article, thank you.  I had no idea a city of this size wouldn't have signage.

[kphoger]

I think Ulan Bator, capital of Mongolia, has almost no street signs.  But that might just be because they didn't feel like making them.  I think I heard that on a travel show on TV once.  Anyway, its population is about 1.2M.

[huskeroadgeek]

Back in 1999, I spent a month in the city of Cabimas, Venezuela on a mission trip. With the help of some people from a church there that we were working with, the city was split into regions for groups of about 2-4 people to cover and do Bible studies. Each group was given a map of the region they were to cover and the names and addresses of people in that region who had expressed an interest in studying the Bible. We learned really quickly when we got out in the field that there were very few street signs and while the maps we were given were good for major streets, they weren't always completely accurate for residential streets. Thus, it made it somewhat difficult at times to find some streets. Usually people in a particular neighborhood would know the streets in their neighborhood, but sometimes people wouldn't even know the name of a street just a few blocks away. To make things even more difficult, a good number of houses didn't have numbers marked on them. Needless to say, it made finding some houses quite a challenge. In general, nobody navigated by street names-it was all by landmarks.

[kphoger]

Back in 1999, I spent a month in the city of Cabimas, Venezuela on a mission trip. With the help of some people from a church there that we were working with, the city was split into regions for groups of about 2-4 people to cover and do Bible studies. Each group was given a map of the region they were to cover and the names and addresses of people in that region who had expressed an interest in studying the Bible. We learned really quickly when we got out in the field that there were very few street signs and while the maps we were given were good for major streets, they weren't always completely accurate for residential streets. Thus, it made it somewhat difficult at times to find some streets. Usually people in a particular neighborhood would know the streets in their neighborhood, but sometimes people wouldn't even know the name of a street just a few blocks away. To make things even more difficult, a good number of houses didn't have numbers marked on them. Needless to say, it made finding some houses quite a challenge. In general, nobody navigated by street names-it was all by landmarks.

To be fair, most of us in the States couldn't name all the streets within a half-mile radius of our house, and we have excellent signage.