When will we come to our senses about naming streets? Okay, I still think it's nuts that you can be standing at the corner of 2nd and 2nd, but it's absolutely nuts that it can be 2nd Street, 2nd Avenue, 2nd Boulevard, 2nd Court, 2nd Trail, 2nd Place, you name it...and I wish you would!
But that's not the worst of it. The thing that's just bugging the crap out of me right now is the way street names transmogrify without warning. Down at the corner is a street that is one long continuous road, and it is, at various times, 84th, 108th and Central, and there are places where it's all three of those at the same time! So how can you find your way around when streets have multiple names? And when they change without rules or warning? And, even better, when not all names are displayed? So you can get directions from someone and be on the right street and not even know it. Makes me crazy, and everyone knows I don't need any help in that department!
The other day we were looking for a house that was located between 1st and 1st, and it was nowhere near the main part of the originally named street, but was three blocks away and not attached by anything except dreams. And don't get me started on the streets that were laid out by ADD toddlers! You know the ones I mean - they start and then stop for no apparent reason then pick up again four blocks away, or they wind around, changing names in various places, but eventually become the same street as the one you started off on but in a different neighborhood, possibly in a different town, but the same street name. You think I'm kidding? Go try to find something in St. Paul, MN. Before the good folks of St. Paul get all huffy and defensive, please understand that I think St. Paul is a beautiful city, but as my ex-husband pointed out, the streets were laid out by drunken Irishmen after a particularly celebratory St. Patrick's Day. You almost need a GPS unit and a hominig device to find some places. Yes, it's individualistic and quirky, but it can be frustrating as all get-out too.
Still I don't mind the meandering streets, as long as the names stay the same all the way! I even like the meandering streets, but would be satisfied in ways I can't even articulate if the street names would just stay consistent.
Oh, and if the street signs were lit and really visible? I'd really like that. But that's asking for too much, isn't it? Ah well....someday...
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