In Rio Rancho, which is our largest suburb, there is a Picabo St., named after the Olympian.
Albuquerque has a street named in that same vein - Sesame St., named after the children's show.
And we also have a Knott's Landing, named after the soap opera.
We also have a Supreme Ct. in a neighborhood called Heritage Hills, which is filled with patriotic and national-themed street names. This neighborhood also has a Short St., which as its name implies is only one block long.
When I was growing up there was a street in my neighborhood that I always thought was funny. It was Commercial St. I thought it was named after television commercials, not commerce or businesses.
Another one I always got a kick out of since I grew up knowing Spanish was a street called Poco Loco Rd. This street has many sharp, right-angle curves along its length. Poco Loco translates in English to "a little crazy" It's a residential street.
We had another, but major street like that when I was growing up. One of the curves on that street was popularly known as "Dead Man's Curve" because of all the accidents there over the years. Thankfully, the curves were flattened out in a major rebuild of the street in the last decade.
Albuquerque of course has lots of Spanish (and Spanglish) street names. Some make absolutely no sense when translated into English, but sound exotic and interesting nonetheless.
One of these is Verdad de Luz Ct. Translated to English literally it is Truth of Light or possibly the Light's Truth. Perhaps it has some sincere meaning in English that I'm not aware of but I've yet to come up with it or hear of an explanation as to its meaning. Light of Truth has religious connotations, but then that would mean the street should be called Luz de Verdad instead. I think perhaps the person who named it had the religious Light of Truth in mind, but mistakenly thought everything in English needs to be reversed when translated to Spanish to be correct.
A funny Spanglish street name is found in Yippee Calle Ct. (yippy ki-yay - get it?
) Calle means street in Spanish and so the court part is completely unnecessary since Spanish street designations (Avenida, Calle, Camino, Paseo, etc.) are considered official and legal in Albuquerque.
We have another example of redundant and unnecessary Spanish and English street designations on one of our city's busiest corridors. Paseo del Norte is officially signed at many intersections as Paseo del Norte Blvd.
Albuquerque also has Juan Tabo Blvd. as a major street, but nobody quite knows who he was. There are some who say he was a mythical character, others a real person.
One more street name that I get a kick out of in Albuquerque is Singing Arrow Rd. I loved saying it while growing up. For a while I thought perhaps it was actually pronounced Singe-ing Arrow, like a flaming arrow, but no, it's Singing Arrow like an arrow making a noise as it shoots through the air.
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