There Must’ve Been a Street Name Shortage
There is a street in Avon, Ohio named Just Imagine Drive. You can look it up. I wish it had existed when they built Cleveland and its environs, because imagination, when it came to naming streets, was often not in evidence. Just Imagine Drive might have been inspirational to the folks who were struggling with the Greater Cleveland Street Name Shortage back then.
On Cleveland’s west side, there’s a street called Elmwood. The ‘burb immediately west of Cleveland is Lakewood, and Lakewood has an Elmwood. Rocky River is next in line… it has an Elmwood as well. Due west of Rocky River is Bay Village… yup, they have one, too. So does Westlake, which is just south of Bay. None of these Elmwoods are connected and none are thoroughfares of any significance. But elms, I suppose, were a major point of civic pride once upon a time.
The aforementioned cities of Lakewood and Rocky River each have their own Wagar Road. Neither version has anything whatsoever to do with the other, save that both derive their name from a local historical character named Mars Wagar. I think it was some years after inventing his eponymous planet that Mr. Wagar took to naming streets, although I could be wrong on that count… he did manage to get both of his names memorialized in Lakewood, as it boasts a Mars Avenue as well. No other local burg has copied that one as yet.
There is a street named West Park in Cleveland, one in Fairview Park, and another in North Olmsted, all within eight miles or so of each other. Since people have missed out on deliveries of pizza and Christmas presents from the ensuing confusion, I think that there should have been an 11th Commandment:
Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbor’s Streets
I also think that cities should hire cab drivers to name their streets… you’d get distinctive street names, whimsical and non-derivative.
Elvis Avenue
Pork Chop Lane
Ennui Court
Support Hose Road
It really isn’t difficult.
October 25th, 2007 at 8:14 pm
I like streets named for holidays. Particularly lusty holidays such as those in the early months of the year. When I come to cleveland, will you squire me about so’s I don’t get lost? I’d hate to waste a moment of my time there in a daze of avenue confusion.
October 26th, 2007 at 8:06 pm
You’ll like this then:
Columbia (MD) takes its street names from famous works of art and literature: for example, the neighborhood of Hobbit’s Glen takes its street names from the work of J. R. R. Tolkien; Running Brook, from the poetry of Robert Frost; and Clemens Crossing, from the work of Mark Twain.
And I know where all those little ‘burbs ARE!!
October 27th, 2007 at 8:28 pm
Columbia’s idea is a good one, Tina… especially compared to Arlington, which does things like lining up N.24th Street, N.24th Road, N.24th Avenue, and N.24th Place. No one told them they could use more numbers, it seems.