What's with those strange Chicago addresses? (Addison, Manhattan: live, zip code, store)

[Drover]

Originally Posted by Feeling Brackish

I'm a transplant here, and I've always thought Chicago had the most logical, well thought out address system. Unlike my hometown, it's really easy to get an idea of where something is here just by knowing the address. I'm not sure why anyone would think it odd once they were told of the layout.

True... once you're familiar with the N/S/E/W designation of a street (e.g. Halsted = 800W, Cermak = 2200S, etc.), you can drive straight to an address without a map even if you've never been to that part of town before.

[mas23]

Originally Posted by citylove101

Manigault

Look to your home city! How can there be a downtown in Brooklyn and a downtown in Manhattan? That's easy. They were once two seperate cities How can Broadway not be a street or an avenue? Its just Broadway. A "way" is about as close to a name for a throughfare as I can imagine, as in one of Chicago's fancy addresses, "State Parkway."

How can Manhattan have a George Washington Bridge and a Washington Bridge? And better yet, they're only a few blocks from each other! Confusion reigns! But nobody gets confused. They're sort of way different sizes. Are there any shrubs in Madison Square Garden? No shrubs, but recently there has been grass growing in the seats when the Knicks play

How can South Ozone Park, Jamaica and Springfield Gardens all be addresses in NYC? Same as number one. These were all seperate towns at one point before NYC united Why isn't Brooklyn Long Island and why isn't City Island an island? City Island IS physically an island and Brooklyn IS on Long Island--but only geographically, not politically or in the way people think of them.

If Riverdale is in the Bronx, why does no one ever say that? People do say that. But nobody in Riverdale cares. What the hell is a Throg and and why is its neck in the Bronx?

Funny, cause I just mailed a package to Ozone Park,Queens

I thought it was strange that the address just had "Ozone Park, NY" Instead of Queens, NY on it.

[Milwaukee City]

Originally Posted by citylove101

As many times as I've been to the Second City I'm still a bit mystified by some of the addresses that I think are downright kooky, though I guess Chicagoans are used to them with their confusing directionals:

South South Shore Drive
Isn't this just the same as South Lake Shore Drive?
South East End Ave
Since East End isn't on the north side why isn't it just East End Ave?
West North St
This makes NO sense that I can figure out. Is there an East North St?
North Southport
This one just sounds downright schizophrenic

Idiosyncrancies, good reasons for this, or something else? And are there other directionally-challenged streets I don't know about? Save me from getting lost on my next trip to Chicago!

If you think Chicago is tough try Miami's quad grid system sw, nw, ne, se.

[andrew61]

Originally Posted by Drover

There is no east North Street (it's actually North Avenue) because it doesn't go far enough east. [ETA: I take that back, there is one block of North Avenue that is east of State therefore there that block is "E. North Avenue."]

IIRC, that little stretch of North east of State is actually "E. North Blvd." And it's two blocks long -- N. State Pkwy to N. Astor St., then N. Astor St. to N. Lake Shore Drive.

[andrew61]

Originally Posted by Feeling Brackish

I'm a transplant here, and I've always thought Chicago had the most logical, well thought out address system. Unlike my hometown, it's really easy to get an idea of where something is here just by knowing the address. I'm not sure why anyone would think it odd once they were told of the layout.

I agree. The fact that Chicago is so flat allowed the development of a near-perfect grid pattern. Streets might come one after another in monotonous sequence, but it does make it easy to find your way around.

Also good to know is that every 800 numbers you advance is exactly one mile... for example, 3200N is one mile north of 2400N, 4000N is one mile north of 3200N, and so on. The only exceptions to this rule are the first three miles south of Madison Street on the South Side -- the first mile south of Madison is at 1200S, the second mile at 2200S, the third mile at 3100S, and after that the 800-to-a-mile rule resumes.

The only thing that confused me at first is how a street name would suddenly change directions... for example, N. Sheridan turns at a right angle and becomes W. Sheridan, and then it picks up the numbering system of the new direction. That took a little getting used to at first, for me anyway, but fortunately there aren't that many streets that do that.

Another thing that might confuse people at first are the diagonal streets and their direction, but it's something you learn with experience.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by andrew61

IIRC, that little stretch of North east of State is actually "E. North Blvd." And it's two blocks long -- N. State Pkwy to N. Astor St., then N. Astor St. to N. Lake Shore Drive.

From State to Astor is half a block. E. North Avenue (or Boulevard or whatever it is) is one block long. There is no 1xx E. State.

[latikeriii]

Grew up on the North Side, live in NYC now. Chicago is a lot easier to navigate without a GPS. Queens, Brooklyn, and of course Manhattan all have Broadways.
Manhattan=NY, NY address.
Brooklyn=Brooklyn, NY
Queens=Former municipality name. Ex: Astoria Queens has an address of Astoria, NY.
Bronx= Bronx, NY
Staten Island=Staten Island,NY
All is in New York City.

Oh, and Belmont is 3200N, not 3000N like someone said above.
800N-Chicago Ave
1600N-North Av
2400N-Fullerton
3200N-Belmont
4000N-Irving Park Rd
4800N-Lawrence
5600N-Bryn Mayr
forgot the middle but Howard is 7600N.

and so on. I can't believe I remember this from the top of my head.

[Alacran]

One doesn't really need to remember the numbers for streets though.

A random number like 4500 N. Avers

Just drive north or south on Avers(Or closest big street) till you reach it.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by Alacran

One doesn't really need to remember the numbers for streets though.

A random number like 4500 N. Avers

Just drive north or south on Avers(Or closest big street) till you reach it.

Well, you'd have to know where Avers is. But if you tell people "it's about 2 blocks east of Pulaski" then they should be able to find you.

[andrew61]

Originally Posted by Drover

From State to Astor is half a block. E. North Avenue (or Boulevard or whatever it is) is one block long. There is no 1xx E. State.

Ah, I see. You're counting blocks as in "every 100 is a block"... instead of from one street to the next.