7 ms·

> It made addresses have real meaning. In the spirit of this observation, here are some fun ways to place addresses in (some of) Manhattan. - First of all, "e

> It made addresses have real meaning. In the spirit of this observation, here are some fun ways to place addresses in (some of) Manhattan. - First of all, "evens go east," so 20th St runs to the East and 21st to the West (14th, 23rd, 34th, 42nd, 57th, and 59th are the primary two-way, E/W thoroughfares (I think you just have to memorize those, but note that they line up with the stops on many of the N/S subway lines)) - Street numbers pivot on 5th Ave and increase in each direction from there, so if you know the street number, you know which two avenues it's between. For example, when I lived at 4xx W 45th St, that was between 9th and 10th, which can be deduced from the first number of the address added to 5 (5 + 4 = 9, so the address is West of 9th). - If you need to remember the order of Lexington -> Park -> Madison, just remember, "Let's party, motherfucker" :)

kgermino 4y ago
> Street numbers pivot on 5th Ave and increase in each direction from there, so if you know the street number, you know which two avenues it's between. For example, when I lived at 4xx W 45th St, that was between 9th and 10th, which can be deduced from the first number of the address added to 5 (5 + 4 = 9, so the address is West of 9th). As a logic-minded person used to the Chicago system, this kind of thing drives me nuts. Why on earth would you have a numbered street that doesn't represent its own place in the address numbering scheme? 9th should be at 900 W, 10th at 1000 W, etc. The whole benefit of numbered streets is that you don't have to remember where they are in the grid and you throw half of that value away when the number doesn't match their position in the grid! </rant> I know there's no value here. I'm sorry, but... please make it make sense
- Kon-Peki 4y ago
  The Chicago grid system is the result of a 1908 renumbering and a 1913 street renaming. All of this after the grid was built. It used to be every bit as unusual as Manhattan.
- madcaptenor 4y ago
  I share your complaints about Manhattan. I guess when they did Manhattan they had figured out "numbered streets are good" but not "having the addresses work nicely with the numbered streets are good". By the time they put addresses on the streets in Queens they did what you want them to.
  - nobody9999 4y ago
    >By the time they put addresses on the streets in Queens they did what you want them to. That is true, but 34-15 61st Street is a very different place than 34-15 61st Road, 34-15 61st Avenue and 34-15 61st Place. Which is even more confusing and annoying than Manhattan addresses. About which I'd point out that there are other smart things and other confusing things too: On side streets (not avenues), odd-numbered addresses are on the north side of the street and even-numbered ones on the south side. And on avenues, addresses are generally odd-numbered on the east side of the street and even-numbered on the west side. Where it exists (north of West 4th Street) the East Side/West Side divide is 5th Avenue, so 5 East 23rd Street is just east of Fifth Avenue and 5 West 23rd is just west of Fifth. And my favorite: Uptown is (generally) north and downtown is (generally) south, so by walking one block and seeing how the street numbers increase/decrease (and remembering the avenue layout from river to river), you can pretty much determine your whereabouts pretty quickly. Also (with some variation) one city block (say from 43rd to 44th street, rather than avenue blocks, e.g., from Park to Lexington which have much more variable lengths) is approximately 1/20th of a mile.

kgermino 4y ago

> Street numbers pivot on 5th Ave and increase in each direction from there, so if you know the street number, you know which two avenues it's between. For example, when I lived at 4xx W 45th St, that was between 9th and 10th, which can be deduced from the first number of the address added to 5 (5 + 4 = 9, so the address is West of 9th). As a logic-minded person used to the Chicago system, this kind of thing drives me nuts. Why on earth would you have a numbered street that doesn't represent its own place in the address numbering scheme? 9th should be at 900 W, 10th at 1000 W, etc. The whole benefit of numbered streets is that you don't have to remember where they are in the grid and you throw half of that value away when the number doesn't match their position in the grid! </rant> I know there's no value here. I'm sorry, but... please make it make sense

Kon-Peki 4y ago
The Chicago grid system is the result of a 1908 renumbering and a 1913 street renaming. All of this after the grid was built. It used to be every bit as unusual as Manhattan.
madcaptenor 4y ago
I share your complaints about Manhattan. I guess when they did Manhattan they had figured out "numbered streets are good" but not "having the addresses work nicely with the numbered streets are good". By the time they put addresses on the streets in Queens they did what you want them to.
- nobody9999 4y ago
  >By the time they put addresses on the streets in Queens they did what you want them to. That is true, but 34-15 61st Street is a very different place than 34-15 61st Road, 34-15 61st Avenue and 34-15 61st Place. Which is even more confusing and annoying than Manhattan addresses. About which I'd point out that there are other smart things and other confusing things too: On side streets (not avenues), odd-numbered addresses are on the north side of the street and even-numbered ones on the south side. And on avenues, addresses are generally odd-numbered on the east side of the street and even-numbered on the west side. Where it exists (north of West 4th Street) the East Side/West Side divide is 5th Avenue, so 5 East 23rd Street is just east of Fifth Avenue and 5 West 23rd is just west of Fifth. And my favorite: Uptown is (generally) north and downtown is (generally) south, so by walking one block and seeing how the street numbers increase/decrease (and remembering the avenue layout from river to river), you can pretty much determine your whereabouts pretty quickly. Also (with some variation) one city block (say from 43rd to 44th street, rather than avenue blocks, e.g., from Park to Lexington which have much more variable lengths) is approximately 1/20th of a mile.