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Favorite City Street Names?

Guest RyanScav
Guest RyanScav
in City Discussion

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I have had many discussions with friends about their favorite city street names. This is to say, what streets bring you the essence of a city just by saying its name? Do the names evoke images of large skyscrapers, of tightly compact neighborhoods, of blight?

 

Either way, what street name do you think defines itself best, and why?

 

 

 

My favorites from my own experiences:

 

Divisadero (San Francisco) - The name is great because this street literally divides a few of the cities busier neighborhoods, yet it evokes the "big city" name because of its robust character and its bustling streets. When I lived there, it was definitely a huge marker in the Mission, Castro, NOPA neighborhoods. Taxi's were plentiful, and street activity was abundant. (Embarcadero is a good one too.. but I had to commute on it, and after 3 months I was weary of having to use that street! ;)

 

Galbraith Road (Cincinnati) - Something about the strength behind this name evokes that busy, blue collar street that (along with colerain avenue) make me think of jazz, heat, and steel mills. (probably because of john coltrane's name sounding like colerain)

 

Prospect Avenue (Cleveland) - Arguably my favorite in my hometown, this name just makes me think back to the oil era and Cleveland's hay day. More so than Carnegie for some reason.. maybe because it sort of makes me think of businessmen talking about their next venture. (Cliff Drive was actually a close one)

 

Wacker Drive (Chicago) - For some reason nothing evokes a more powerful feeling of "skyscraper" than an address on Wacker Drive. N, S, upper or lower. I am immediately thinking of the overwhelming number of high-rises. The name just fits.

 

Grand Army of the Republic Highway (Cleveland) + Boulevard of the Allies (Pittsburgh) - While the Pittsburgh version is more local (no one in Cleveland actually calls it that, and it hits many other states).. these names are just fantastic for that olde world big city boulevard.

 

Ringstrasse (Vienna, Austria) - Anything on the ringstrasse is made of win.. plus the road is actually a large crescent that encircles the city. It fits, and its certainly one of the most impressive streets in the world to walk. On a sunday everything is closed. This is your opportunity to see the whole thing! I walked it in its entirety 3-4 times while I was there, and you see something incredible every 5 minutes, every time you walk. (I am also an architect, so this makes sense).

 

Rue Montorgeuil (Paris, France) - Yea yea you'd expect Champs-Elysees.. and while thats certainly the famous name, as a resident of Paris, nothing is quite the same kind of "lively" as Montorgeuil. And while its extremely tough to pronounce b/c it feels like getting a throat culture, it just kinda sticks. (These are all a lot like Mouffletard, and St. Andre-Des-Arts, but I found this place to be just the right amount of real French, plus international cultures.)

Coventry - evokes that hippie/hipster/grungy/artsy vibe of Cleveland Heights

 

Fairmount - $$

 

Shaker Blvd - Suburban TOD

Armitage in Chicago.

 

Sedgwick in Chicago.

 

Mission St. in San Fran

 

Bridge in Cleveland.

While it's not one street, I like the series of Parkways that Cincinnati has.  Victory Parkway, Columbia Parkway, and Central Parkway are all different aesthetically, but they all are wide (for Cincinnati) and have a lot of greenery surrounding them, which makes them stand out and seem important.

 

Other streets I like in Cincinnati:

 

Observatory in Hyde Park: Stretches through the heart of HP and terminates into the beautiful Ault Park.  Name evokes the image of the historic observatory.

 

Ludlow Ave in Clifton: Funky, bohemian, self sufficient/complete business district.

 

Devil's Backbone Road: Hilly road on the West Side. Just an awesome name.

Not really a street name, but I like how Cleveland's street suffixes are consistent.  Streets go north and south, Avenues go east and west, Roads are diagonals, Courts are east/west alleys, Places are north/south alleys, Drives just kind of do their own thing (like a Sunday Drive), and then my favourite streets in Cleveland, Boulevards, which are reserved for the "showcase roads" such as East Blvd., West Blvd., Lake Shore Blvd., Franklin Blvd., Clifton, Blvd., MLK Blvd., etc.  Even the Heights honors the boulevard convention with Forest Hills, Monitcello, Meadowbrook, Washington, Euclid Heights, Fairmount, Shaker, Chagrin, Van Aken, N. Park, S. Park, W. Park, N. Moreland, S. Moreland, Larchmere, Belvoir, and some others.

While it's not one street, I like the series of Parkways that Cincinnati has.  Victory Parkway, Columbia Parkway, and Central Parkway are all different aesthetically, but they all are wide (for Cincinnati) and have a lot of greenery surrounding them, which makes them stand out and seem important.

 

Other streets I like in Cincinnati:

 

Observatory in Hyde Park: Stretches through the heart of HP and terminates into the beautiful Ault Park.  Name evokes the image of the historic observatory.

 

Ludlow Ave in Clifton: Funky, bohemian, self sufficient/complete business district.

 

Devil's Backbone Road: Hilly road on the West Side. Just an awesome name.

 

Zig Zag Road in Montgomery area is cool too.

Hands down my favorite is "Needmore Rd." in Dayton.  No other name is so explicit.  Except for maybe Sprawl Blvd.

Odd names which cross major interstates:

 

Bridge over the Ohio Turnpike just west of SR 53 (Fremont exit) - Fangboner Rd.

Exit 144 on I-75 in Tennessee - Stinking Creek Rd.

 

Ozark High School in Arkansas has the following address:

 

1631 Hillbilly Drive

Ozark, AR 72949

I've always been a fan of the Lake Erie road references around the Sandusky area.

* Shoreline Drive along Sandusky Bay in downtown Sandusky.

* Erie Boulevard in east Sandusky 

* Lake Shore Avenue (not located by the lake, but rather the old Lake Shore railroad)

* Bayshore Road on the Marblehead Peninsula

* Rye Beach Road in Huron

* Cedar Point Chaussee (the old way to CP)

 

Then of course there are some rural roads in the Firelands with odd/interesting names.

* Gore Orphanage Road

* Lovers Lane Road

* Ransom Road

* Medusa Road

* Halfway Road (the longitude line halfway between the Indiana and Pennsylvania state lines)

 

Avenue of the Americas in NYC.

 

What could sound more prominent than that!!!

Grand Army of the Republic Highway, the U.S. 6

 

 

Coupled with some of the pictures I've seen of Public Square during the Centennial loaded with American flags and the Cent. Arch.. WOW what a combination of words and images.

 

 

....Does anyone remember what Burnham wanted the Mall to be called?  Something .... Justice?

Although for me it doesn't represent anything I really like the name Swingos Court in Cleveland (not sure why it changes to Brownell Ct halfway when it's only about 4 blocks long).

 

 

... Mouffletard...

 

Too funny. Rue Mouffetard is one of my very favorite street names (long turned into a casual insult thrown between me and my s.o.).  And yet via typo you manage to make the name even sillier.

Everhard Road in Canton.

Lost Nation Road in Mentor/Willoughby. 

... Mouffletard...

 

Too funny. Rue Mouffetard is one of my very favorite street names (long turned into a casual insult thrown between me and my s.o.).  And yet via typo you manage to make the name even sillier.

 

HAHA I see it now :D yeeep! Great street though, Au Rocher de Cancale is one of my favorite places.

Poe White (Trash) Parkway in Richmond Va.  :)

Ah, my favorite is Big Beaver Rd in Detroit!  AND, it's exit 69 off interstate 75!

While it's not one street, I like the series of Parkways that Cincinnati has.  Victory Parkway, Columbia Parkway, and Central Parkway are all different aesthetically, but they all are wide (for Cincinnati) and have a lot of greenery surrounding them, which makes them stand out and seem important.

 

Other streets I like in Cincinnati:

 

Observatory in Hyde Park: Stretches through the heart of HP and terminates into the beautiful Ault Park.  Name evokes the image of the historic observatory.

 

Ludlow Ave in Clifton: Funky, bohemian, self sufficient/complete business district.

 

Devil's Backbone Road: Hilly road on the West Side. Just an awesome name.

 

Devil's Backbone Road might be the coolest name for a piece of infrastructure I have ever heard.

Ah, my favorite is Big Beaver Rd in Detroit!  AND, it's exit 69 off interstate 75!

 

I liked your first version better even though it was inaccurate! :)

Several streets fall into various categories for me

 

  • Quadrilatero d'Oro - I could die at the intersection of these streets and die a very happy man!
  • Strivers Row - Harlem - Walking down the street makes you feel as though you've been transported to Europe.
  • East Boulevard -
  • Coventry - It's uniquely Cleveland
  • Grace Court - First Street I live in in NYC
  • South Park/North Park/Parkland/Fairmont/Chestnut Hill - I think it's the most beautiful streets in the country!
  • Gay Street - It's right in the Heart of NYCs Gay ghetto
  • MLK Boulevard.  There's one in the heart of every black neighborhood in major cities.
  • The "Park" Streets in Cleveland Hts/Shaker Hts.
  • Chestnut Hill Drive - It just says "you people dont belong here" to me.  Well, except for the house my cousin wants to bulldoze.

Ah, my favorite is Big Beaver Rd in Detroit!  AND, it's exit 69 off interstate 75!

 

I liked your first version better even though it was inaccurate! :)

 

Oops, guess what I have on my mind!

Lost Nation Road?

cool

Mad Anthony Wayne in Cincinnati has a ring to it.

Cincinnati also used to have a Bloody Run

Dixmyth is pretty comical, too, if it's really supposed to be Dick Smith

just wanted to clarify that lost nation road is entirely in willoughby.

 

John R: Detroit

Chagrin Boulevard

Avenue of Peace: Linndale

Coe's Post Run, Chairmans Rowe: Westlake *ducks*

Superior Avenue

 

East 105th street's, nickname 'The 10,5'

 

Monticello Boulevard

This is my most successful topic post ever! :D yay!

 

I wanted to add one.. There is always Cox rd in West Chester. Its only mildly comical, until you realize there is an iHop on it.

 

They are trained to answer the phone "cox road ihop" instead of, well..

 

Someone beat me to Devil's Backbone and Zig Zag Road. A few others are Burnt Schoolhouse Road, Buffalo Ridge Road, Van Zandt Road, Spooky Hollow Road, and the Hairpins of Ebenezer, all in Hamilton County.

 

There's an intersection of Grinn and Barrett in West Chester. I laughed really hard when I discovered that the first time; one of my co-workers at work was looking at a map and said "over here at Grinn and Barrett," and then realizing what he said he just looked down and said "Oh, my." That intersection was later picked by AAA as the funniest street name.

 

Straight Street in Cincinnati is neat, especially if you've been there. It's straight alright; straight up a steep hill.

 

Other streets I can think of that have national recognition:

 

Bourbon Street

Wall Street

Sunset Boulevard

 

 

Not a city street, but I like Devil's Hole Road south of Toledo.

 

For city streets, in no order:

 

Boulevard of the Allies (Pittsburgh)

Meridian Street (Indianapolis)

Sauk Trail, Lake Shore Drive (Chicago)

Alaskan Way Viaduct, Olive Way (Seattle)

Anthony Wayne Trail (Toledo)

Peachtree Rd (Atlanta)

Sunset Blvd (LA)

Dixie Bee Highway (Terre Haute, Ind)

 

Random Road ---in the Little Italy neighborhood of Cleveland.

Funny sounding, greater Cleveland:

 

Chagrin Blvd

Random Road

Marginal Road

 

Funny, Chicago: Wacker Street

 

True to place, Greater Cleveland.

 

(in Cleveland)

Carbon

Industrial Parkway

Train

Tungsten (Euclid)

 

... and speaking of Euclid,

give props to a major City that names it's MAIN STREET after one of the smartest mathematicians of all time (... OK, it was really named for a street extending to a TOWN named after one of the smartest mathematicians... but we won't tell anybody).

 

Name totally out of whack with its surroundings:

 

Philly:  Spring Garden Street

 

(that goes for a few Philly neighborhoods as well, like: Nicetown and, ... really bizarre, Strawberry Mansion (you have to know Philly to understand what I mean).

 

^^agreed from above, ... Majestic -- Ave of the Americas

 

Unusual, but semi-majestic: Lost Nation Road

 

Finally, best image, LA:

 

Sunset Blvd.

 

Best feeling + image, Greater Cleve:

 

Pleasant Valley Road

Here it is, the greatest street in America:

 

assawoman-1.jpg

 

 

And naturally, I took a photo of one of the signs that made its way to Ohio University:

 

assawoman.jpg

 

 

 

Not exactly a street name, but I always liked the fact that I lived on the corner of 30th and 30th in Queens, NY, and there were two other "30th's" within a block. Made it hard to give anyone directions, as they always ended up on the wrong 30th. 30th Ave, St, Dr, and Rd all meet right by the 30th Avenue station.  You can sort of move diagonal across the borough and see other places where similar things happen.

 

Here's a link to explain what I'm talking about: http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=40.76681225575326~-73.92277743320451&lvl=17&dir=0&sty=r&where1=30th%20Ave%20%26%2030th%20St%2C%20Astoria%2C%20NY%2011102&form=LMLTCC

Where the streets have "No Name"...

 

Millersburg, OH - No Name Street

 

Piketon, oH - No Name Road

Tremont Ave. in Charlotte's Dilworth neighborhood intersects with Lyndhurst Ave., Euclid Ave., and Cleveland Ave.

I always did love Sepulveda Blvd in Los Angeles.

"You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers

there's a subdivision somewhere in florida with street names evocative of lake county: wickliffe, willowick, kirtland, mentor, madison

truly bizarro

 

ok i found it, it's in naples

 

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=wickliffe+drive,+naples,+fl&aq=&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=31.509065,56.337891&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Wickliffe+Dr,+Naples,+Collier,+Florida+34110&ll=26.275051,-81.765398&spn=0.017393,0.043774&z=14&output=embed

 

i almost forgot about Johnnycake Ridge Road

I did a street view right down Euclid Ave. in Naples.  Sometimes I forget how terribly ugly most of Florida is.

Outville Road in Licking County does in fact go through the middle of nowhere, including a few outlying hamlets (one actually named Outville).

How come Pleasant Streets invariably aren't?

I like streets that are named after a Direction, and then have a directional suffix in front of them.  Ex: West North Street/East North Street

How come Pleasant Streets invariably aren't?

 

LMAO!  Lawd!

 

The City of Forest Park, which consists mainly of curvey residential streets, is divided into sections where every street in a section starts with the same letter. People say things like "I live in the M Section."

I grew up and live in nautically themed neighborhood.  Some of the more amusing names:

 

Pirates Trail

Pirates Cove

Beaver Trail

Smugglers Cove

 

My sister used to live near Olentangy River Road and I usually called it and the river "Bold and Tangy" like it was some kind of mass market BBQ sauce.

 

The "OBT" Orange Blossom Trail in Orlando as well as

"I-Drive" International Drive

 

 

Cleveland:

 

Shaker Blvd

Van Aken Blvd

Chagrin Blvd

Transportation Blvd

Monticello Blvd

Lakeshore Blvd

Belvoir Rd

SOM Center Rd

Gates Mills Blvd

 

One other quirk I like about Cleveland is calling the numbered streets exactly that...like West Sixty Five instead of 65th or East One Five Six instead of E 156th.  The rapid operators often do it.

 

I kinda wish Cleveland used the Freeway names that are on maps on it's highway signs:

 

Lakeland Freeway I90 East side

Willow Freeway I77

Medina Freeway I71

Northwest Freeway I90 West Side

Clark Freeway I490

 

Akron:

Firestone Blvd

Goodyear Blvd

Lovers Lane

Opportunity Parkway

White Pond Drive

Cadillac Hill

Sand Run Parkway

Vernon Odom Blvd

The Kenmore Leg (I76 connector)

I think all of Akron's interstates were named with directional "Expressway" unlike the freeway term used in Cleveland (The East Expressway for example) although they don't use them either on signs (but true Akronites do).

 

Kent:

Depeyster St

 

Canton:

Hills and Dales Rd

Favorites:

 

-Any traditional urban city street name (Main, Church, Broadway, 1st, 2nd 3rd, Washington, Madison, Lincoln, etc.)

-All of the Cincinnati parkways: Columbia, Victory, Central

-Vine Street (Cincinnati, OH)

-Electric Avenue (Westerville, OH)

-Grand Army of the Republic Highway

 

 

Funny/Odd:

 

-Needmore Road (Dayton, OH)

-Wacker (Chicago)

-Sprinkle Rd (Kalamazoo, MI)

-Elbow Dr (Jenison, MI)

 

Dislike:

 

-Any street named after a person that uses the person's entire name....i.e. Theodore M. Berry Way

-Subdivisions that have names that all sound the same. I grew up in a subdivision where every street ended in 'brook'...Meadowbrook, Stonybrook, Honeybrook, Thornbrook, Willowbrook, Shadowbrook, Oakbrook, Cedarbrook

 

 

Sounds like your still not over growing up in a subdivision.  See what growing up in a subdivision will do to you kids?

The (now) inexplicable Euclid Chagrin Parkway in Richmond Heights.

 

As I understand it, there was to be a road connecting the Euclid Creek Reservation to the North Chagrin Reservation of the Metroparks.  Not much of it was ever built, I think due to the airport being constructed.  I don't really know, but just these two tiny fragments are left.

 

I also love Random Road and Starkweather Road in Cleveland. 

 

And in my neighborhood there's Verona Road, which isn't anything special until you sing the tune to that awful song by The Knack and call it "My Verona"

I like the original street names in the Parking Lot District (A.K.A. WHD) such as "Bank Street" and "Water Street"..... Much classier in my opinion than just the numbers.

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