Talk:Street name/Archive 1

Archive 1

Hidden messages?

How about hidden messages in street names?

If you look here [1], at Beatrice Road in Leicester, and look at the names of the roads between it and Pool Road, from west to east, you get I HARRISON. Which just happens to be the name of the person responsible for naming those roads. Morwen - Talk 11:56, 13 October 2005 (UTC)

I know that area very well but never noticed that. Nice spot, and it would make a good addition. violet/riga (t) 20:24, 13 October 2005 (UTC)

Concession

Does "concession" in this article (which linked to a page about political concession speeches, which has now been turned into a disambig) mean concession (contract), or is an additional, more specific disambiguation needed? -- Jmabel | Talk 08:24, 28 November 2005 (UTC)

Queens

Does this article really need so much detail on Queens County, NY? - Jmabel | Talk 03:08, 3 April 2006 (UTC)

I don't think it does. We already have three paragraphs on grid-based naming systems, and the article doesn't need such detail on every specific grid-based naming system on the planet. I'm all for having this information in Wikipedia, as long as it's moved to Queens and not kept here. Doctor Whom 01:52, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

I think that would be a fine solution. - Jmabel | Talk 04:11, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

Done. Doctor Whom 22:27, 3 May 2006 (UTC)

brokerage context

I find it a little silly that there is a full encyclopedia entry on the term "street name." Maybe I'm off here, but the term seems common sensical, analogistic to an entry for "hot water" or "car door." What I was looking for was a discussion of how safe investors should feel about shares held in brokerage accounts or "street name." Something akin to http://www.sec.gov/answers/street.htm. Now, there's something outside common knowledge and worth documenting.

“Common sense is very uncommon.” --Horace Greeley

http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wiki_is_not_paper

That said, you have a point. I will see if there's a good place for a blurb at the top of the page to direct to. --Lukobe 18:07, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

The brokerage context needs an article, too. And if we are going to do a disambiguation, we might also mention there that "street name" can mean "nickname", especially in a context of drug dealing. - Jmabel | Talk 18:03, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

Quebec

Does an article on Street names really need two separate sections on language politics in Quebec? I really think that one would do. - Jmabel | Talk 03:28, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

Descartes in Utah

"In Salt Lake City, Utah, the road system is generally based off the headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints… Similar cartesian coordinate systems are used in other Utah cities and towns. Some towns in Indiana follow the same practice."

Are the systems elsewhere in Utah similar in being based off of LDS temples? And in Indiana? Or are these similar just insofar as they are Cartesian coordinate systems? - Jmabel | Talk 05:08, 1 November 2006 (UTC)

Underreferenced

What else can I say? - Jmabel | Talk 05:08, 1 November 2006 (UTC)

Grid Based Naming

Mannheim, Germany has an interesting grid layout where an address block can be referred to as just "A4" or "C7".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mannheim

This could lead to a slight re-edit of this feature to include the concept of street naming in all the well known planned cities, most notably Washington, DC; Brasilia, Brazil; and even Longview, WA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_cities

—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 199.67.138.83 (talk • contribs) 15 November 2006.

British street-naming systems

Does this warrant a separate article?? --SunStar Net^talk 16:13, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

In what sense. Obviosuly there is Great Britain road numbering system which covers the A, B,C & U along with M, or this some other way I am missing? Regan123 17:42, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

Multiple names

I found another interesting example of this. Street signs on Main Street in Stanwood, Washington show both the locally used names of the streets and their official (numeric) names at the county level. Thus, Main Street is also 271st Street NW, and Girard Street is also 88th Avenue NW. We already have two examples of multiple names for a street (both of which show names in two different languages), but this still might be a useful illustration. - Jmabel | Talk 01:54, 11 April 2007 (UTC)

Shambles

"The Shambles", derived from the Anglo-Saxon term "fleshammels" ("the street of the butchers") ...

My nearest dictionary says that shamble(s) meant the table on which meat (or other goods) was displayed for sale. Can someone dispute that? —Tamfang (talk) 23:45, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Similar street names

All within a few hundred yards of me:

• Bourne Road
• Melbourne Road
• Bournehall Road
• Bournehall Avenue
• Bournehall Lane
• Bournehall School
• and a few other similar names

Lots of people get confused. —82.21.250.171 23:21, 20 July 2007 (UTC)

London has several such clusters. —Tamfang 05:29, 21 July 2007 (UTC)

In Varennes, Quebec, Canada, Boulevard René-Gauthier loops the town and crosses itself : [map]. Is that worth mentioning? --Alex (talk) 06:11, 26 July 2008 (UTC)

More of the same

This article seems to be collecting a lot of similar examples. My suggestion would be to include the largest city that has that pattern (like Washington DC) and relegate the others to separate subsection "see alsos". Or fork them to a separate article. We only need so many. Student7 (talk) 11:14, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

History

Doesn't seem to contain a history of street naming. While this seems totally reasonable to us, some places grew "like topsy" I suppose. I don't think Japan, for example had street names until sometime in the late 19th century or later. There must have been other examples.Student7 (talk) 00:56, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Street names remain rare in Japan, from what I hear. —Tamfang (talk) 07:34, 13 September 2008 (UTC)

My understanding is that Tokyo put up signs to name its major streets for the 1964 Olympics, and those signs were never taken down. Non-major streets are still not named there.

I did some research (20 years ago) in the history of street naming in North America; some of my findings are summarized here. Kestenbaum (talk) 15:16, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

That is a neat reference! We really ought to turn that material into a separate article and link to it from this article. Be a bit of plagiarism!Student7 (talk) 23:06, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

Street type designations / statistics sections

The list of street type designations is incosistent in that it is merely a list of designations used only in the English speaking world EXCEPT the ones for motorways (with references to autobahns / autoroutes etc.) - perhaps a solution would be to remove the non-English language references so that the list could be more accurately labelled "a list of street designations in Anglophone areas" or something similar. As for the statistics, it only shows a list of common street names in one particular country (USA) which does not represent world view (see Wikipedia:WORLDVIEW) - perhaps this list should be moved to a seperate page called "Street or road names in the USA"? Phonemonkey (talk) 17:08, 13 December 2008 (UTC)

Some odd inclusions in designations of small roads

Bay, Fairway, Heights, Highlands, Manor, View: I'm not familiar with any of these as street designations. Can someone provide real world examples? - Jmabel | Talk 05:04, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

Too much USA

This article has far too many examples of street names coming from the USA. Every section has half of its examples coming from American street names, with most of the other half from Canadian, British and Australian sources. The 'Grid-based' section actually has only American cities as examples. At best, the article is overwhelmingly focused on Anglophone streets (like somebody else mentioned above, only the Highway section has designations in other languages), at worst it's flat out over-Americanised.

My suggestions are either to rename the article to something like "Street names in the English-speaking world" and remove all references and images of foreign streets and add more Commonwealth streets, or to balance out the international distribution. I'm adding a {{globalize/USA}} tag until this is fixed. Reject 666 6 (talk) 00:30, 15 July 2009 (UTC)

directional prefix in Chicago

All streets bear a directional prefix (N, S, E or W) indicating their position relative to State and Madison ....

For one unfamiliar with the American grid system, the most natural way to read this (I imagine) is that Wacker Drive, for example, is "W Wacker" because it is entirely west of State Street. Can't we word it better without making it overly long or awkward? — Are there no streets that do not cross State or Madison and so can do without a prefix? —Tamfang (talk) 00:47, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

Freeway and Highway Naming

I reverted a well-meaning newcomer's new section:

Freeways and highways normally have more than just the number. Below is a complete list of stuff.

*Route

Pronounced "root" or "rowt". A route is something that comes before the name. For example I am driving on Route 101 today.

*Interstate

A road that is part of the interstate freeway system. Also is an I- as in I-80.

*State (US)

State highway for example CA 1.

*US

Route 101 can also be US 101.

*Number

The number is just the road number.

*Name

The word name of highways and freeways sometimes changes in the middle of the highway. The name for I-280 is Junipero Serra Freeway.

*North, South, East, West

The way you are going on the freeway is always shown.

Most of this is covered already, but I hesitate to say that none of it is new and relevant. —Tamfang (talk) 17:29, 2 May 2010 (UTC)

themes and grids in Ohio

One anonymous editor added these paragraphs:

• In Garfield Heights, Ohio There are tree themed streets named Maplerow, Elmwood, Oak Park Boulevard, Shady Oak Drive, Woodward, Eastwood, Oakview, and Maple Leaf Drive. Also Garfield Heights has an English theme too with streets named Plymouth Avenue, Fordham, Derby(there is building named the Derby Building), Hastings, Crofton, Chester, Saxon, Briarcliff, Exter, York, Thraves, and Darlington. Garfield Heights's only presidential street is Lincoln, near Elmwood School. There also streets named for women in Garfield Heights named Evelyn, Grace, Christine, Monica Lane, and Linda Lane. Also there streets named after men in Garfield Hts named David, Alexander, Raymond, and Alvin. The streets of Bohning, Hathaway, and Carpenter are named after Garfield Hts's founders. Garfield Heights also has numbered streets.
• Shaker Heights, Ohio and Parma, Ohio have similiar street names. In Shaker Heights and Parma both cities have streets named Canterbury. Parts of Parma were laid like Shaker Heights, both cities grew during the same time.
• Bedford, Ohio has presidential streets named Lincoln, Washington, and Adams, Bedford has a street named Wandle Avenue, this street is named after the Wheeling AND Lake Erie Railroad went through Bedford(now part of the CSX System). Northfield Road's two High Schools of Bedford High School and St. Peter Chanel High School renamed part of Northfield Road Avenue of Champions. Bedford has streets named after men named John, Henry, Paul. There is a Natalie Drive. Bedford also has an Elm Street.
• Maple Heights, Ohio has more streets named after people. Off Dunham Road there are streets named after women Janice, Carol,and Rochelle. There are streets named after men like Thomas. Even Cato who was a Roman Statesman has street named after him.
• Solon, Ohio S.O.M. Center Road means Solon. Orange. and Mayfield Road. S.O.M. Center Road goes from Willowick to Solon, in Summit County S.O.M. Center becomes Darrow Road.

• In Cleveland, Ohio and its suburbs adhere to the grid which was implemented in 1906. Streets that run West/East adhere to the grid. While North/South Streets adhere to Lake Erie. North/South Streets start their numeration in Euclid, Ohio. Example is the address of the Fifth Third Building, that building is 600 Superior Avenue, meaning its 6 Blocks east of Cleveland's Public Square. The Carl B. Stokes US Federal Courthouse is 600 W Superior, meaning 6 Blocks west of Public Square. In Brookpark, some addresses are 21000 Brookpark Road, address of NASA Glenn Research Center. 21000 Brookpark Road means its 210 Blocks west of Public Square, 25000 Rockside Road in Bedford Heights is 250 Blocks East of Public Square. North/South Streets go like this 5700 Turney Road is 57 blocks south from Lake Erie. 6100 Broadview Road is 61 Blocks south.
• There are several Cleveland Suburbs of Bedford, Ohio, Berea, Ohio who do not adhere to the grid. In Bedford, Northfield Road in Maple Heights goes 5600-5100, but south of Rockside Road, Northfield adheres to Bedford's grid, so Northfield Road in Bedford goes 400-1000, then when entering Walton Hills Northfield Road goes to 7000-8000.

I'd clean up the grammar, but it seems like a waste of effort: I see nothing here that couldn't be said of a thousand towns that happen not to be in Ohio. So I'm reverting. —Tamfang (talk) 06:47, 28 August 2010 (UTC)

Name Parts

The part known as "indicator of the type of street, known as the generic" would better be "typic" instead of "generic"? It reflects a "type" not a "genera". This is not a trivial discussion, it is important for modeling. Is there a common convention for this designation? Comments please. --Connection 20:09, 17 July 2006 (UTC)

What's the difference between a type and a genus? What sense of 'modeling' have you in mind? —Tamfang (talk) 19:23, 12 September 2010 (UTC)

The name of the typic is inconsistent in this article; the introduction says it is "... known as the generic", then the section on types of streets calls them "designations", and provides a link to "Street suffix". What a mess. --Corvus (talk) 02:52, 11 September 2010 (UTC)

As if different terms could be applied to the same concept! How absurd! —Tamfang (talk) 19:23, 12 September 2010 (UTC)

streets with no generic

In England (my last visit was in 1991, so memory is hazy) I noticed some streets with no generic. The only one I now remember is Castle Hill, in (i think) Nottingham. From their style and situation I suspected they might be old field-names. That is, once upon a time there was a named field, then houses were built on it and designated as "No. 1, Fieldname"; then, more recently, part of the field was paved and the resulting street remained "Fieldname". Dare I hope that someone can confirm or definitely quash my conjecture? —Tamfang (talk) 06:58, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

"Hill" is clearly the generic in that case. EdC (talk) 02:07, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

"Hill" is relatively common as a Street Name in England, for example the famous Gold Hill, Shaftesbury. Single-word street names (without a "generic" as you call it) are also common, e.g. Whitehall. There are also cases of names which pre-date modern English, so the "generic" is not obvious, e.g. "Kirkgate" TiffaF (talk) 06:21, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

So is hill considered a synonym (or subtype) of street? —Tamfang (talk) 07:31, 8 October 2010 (UTC)

Confusing/unusual/notable cases

Is a section covering some of the more confusing or notable situations warranted? Examples could include Bordesley Green and Bordesley Green Road being two distinct roads, the former running east-west, the latter north-south, located in the area Bordesely Green, Birmingham (and giving rise to the question of whether Bordesley Green appears once or twice in the postal address for locations on the road) 128.232.250.254 17:20, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

Corner of Pike and Pike, Seattle

Yeah, a few of these might be nice. Seattle has a rather famous corner of Pike (Street) and Pike (Place), has a University Street and a University Way (commonly "the Ave") that are nowhere near each other (University Street gets its name from the old location of the University, which moved a century ago) and has an Olmsted-designed Ravenna Boulevard that is only sort of near Ravenna Avenue. But I think there are more than enough Seattle examples in the article already, and examples from elsewhere would be better; go for it. - Jmabel | Talk 18:11, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

Ravenna and Ravenna in fact cross each other, or, rather, Ravenna Boulevard's eastern end is at Ravenna Avenue, adjacent to Ravenna Park. --Lukobe 18:52, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

Does Ravenna Avenue extend south of the park? News to me. - Jmabel | Talk 07:18, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

I've deleted the Bordesley Green example, as the title of the section (Multiple streets sharing the same name) doesn't apply. It may be quite unusual for a road to share the name of its district and also have as street named after it, but it doesn't fit there.

I split the London and Boston examples out, as they specifically mention streets with exactly the same name, where the others don't. I don't know if the other examples are at all confusing to someone from the same cultural background (although it sounds unlikely for the Alberta ones), so I've left it as one long paragraph. Aoeuidhtns (talk) 14:58, 7 January 2011 (UTC)

Australia Highway One

Wikipedia already has an entry regarding Australia's Highway ONe- the longest Highway in the world. I think this article should mention it as a notable example. Tmcfich (talk) 12:15, 21 January 2011 (UTC)

This article is about road names, not road lengths. —Tamfang (talk) 23:10, 21 January 2011 (UTC)

Street names in minority languages

Street names are sometimes in two languages, one of them a minority language, eg. in Cottbus there are German and Lower Sorbian names. The subject should be included into the article.Xx236 (talk) 09:11, 6 September 2011 (UTC)

The same Cree language names in Quebec.Xx236 (talk) 09:15, 6 September 2011 (UTC)

Named for geographical attributes

Hi under this the link for dell which suppose to go to the dell or dale which represents a small valley etc. Instead this goes to the DELL computer company wiki pages :) hope this can be corrected. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kampkann (talk • contribs) 08:21, 19 August 2011 (UTC)

done (Dell (landform)) —Tamfang (talk) 07:35, 11 October 2011 (UTC)

Seattle's odd naming practices

Intersections like Ravenna Avenue and Ravenna Boulevard, and Pike Street and Pike Place, mentioned here[[2]], are not at all remarked upon in Seattle, they're quite commonplace. In Seattle avenues must only run North and South and streets must only run East and West. This means that when an avenue or a street turns it is almost always changed to a Place or a Boulevard or a Way. Way is usually reserved for streets that cut through the grid at an angle, while Place and Boulevard is used for streets that make a near right-angle turn, like Pike Street when it turns North because the hill is too steep to continue West to Western Ave (also there is a public market in the way) or Ravenna Ave when it turns West to take a scenic detour around Ravenna Park and terminates at Green Lake. Or uncountable instances when a street or an avenue must turn to avoid a steep hill or otherwise inconvenient topography, which Seattle has in spades. Ahundred (talk) 21:38, 20 March 2012 (UTC)

Name Parts... Again

Referring to section "Name Parts", above (I lost hope I will have answer), a "generic" is as used in classificaiton. A "type" is a reference to characteristics of the street. This leads to modelling. Modelling in the sense of Object-Oriented Modelling, in other words, developing an Infromation System for Urban planning and other puroposes where a street entries are stored and arranged into a database. Thank you in advance for the kind reply.--Connection (talk) 13:50, 4 March 2012 (UTC)

• This is a non-trivial problem in programming. A road has a name, a type, and sometimes a prefix or suffix (N, NW, etc). Some roads have just one name (e.g. Broadway). In Chicago, we have some streets that reverse the order; Avenue A through Avenue O. We have a Chicago Avenue, and a South Chicago Avenue, which is listed as "S. South Chicago Avenue". Other countries have other wacky systems. Anyway, from what I have gleaned by a quick Google Books/Scholar search, the term used is "type", or sometimes "identifier". Speciate (talk) 06:04, 12 April 2012 (UTC)

History of street names?

So how long have streets been given names? Did street names exist in ancient Rome, for example? How long has it been common to have actual signs indicating the name? I'd like to know that information. 12.239.145.114 (talk) 01:53, 4 June 2012 (UTC)

Usage warning on the word odonym

Looks like odonym does not appear in Merriam-Webster or Google Ngram Viewer. Consider not using the word when editing articles. --Makkachin (talk) 00:56, 24 October 2014 (UTC)

links are way out of date -

http://www.urisa.org/about/initiatives/addressstandard - page not found

http://www.sussexcounty.net/departments/mapaddress/index.cfm?action=road - data connection timed out

https://www.usps.com/ncsc/lookups/abbr_suffix.txt - not found on website

http://www.jln.info/street-name/ - site dead — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2602:304:B0D5:F6F0:C5E1:5B1A:6EF7:E12E (talk) 17:27, 27 March 2016 (UTC)

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