Do you have the downtown streets memorized? (Chicago, Washington: live, design)

[pete6032]

I work downtown and for the life of me cant find any pattern in the street naming convention. In most cities aren't the east-west streets all referred to as XXX "avenue," and the north-south streets are all referred to as XXX "street"? Doesn't seem to be the case in the loop.

Also there are a lot of intersections downtown with no cross street names posted anywhere.

[Chicago60614]

There are street signs at every corner. I moved here in 2001 and had the downtown streets memorized within maybe 6 months.

Wacker
Lake
Randolph
Washington
Madison
Monroe
Adams
Jackson
Van Buren
Congress
Harrison

Wacker
Franklin
Wells
LaSalle
Clark
Dearborn
State
Wabash
Michigan

I think that's right, haha, I just did it in 30 seconds off the top of my head.

[marothisu]

You just kind of learn it after awhile - I get some of them mixed up sometimes though, but you learn. There's also a pattern of streets like river names and famous explorer names

[Link N. Parker]

Dont forget the names of the other of downtown, such as River North.

I have seen that there is a "pattern" of names but it doesnt aid in memorization. Some areas of the Loop are named after presidents, some areas of River North are named after river (Ohio) or lakes (Ontario, Erie, Superior, Huron, Michigan etc).

Clark st is named after the guy in Louis and Clark.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by pete6032

I work downtown and for the life of me cant find any pattern in the street naming convention. In most cities aren't the east-west streets all referred to as XXX "avenue," and the north-south streets are all referred to as XXX "street"? Doesn't seem to be the case in the loop.

Also there are a lot of intersections downtown with no cross street names posted anywhere.

I'm not aware of any intersections downtown without street signs. And I live and work here, and I do look for them.

Not all cities use the Avenue designation to indicate type of street. Chicago is notoriously lax about that - the street "type" almost never matters, with the one common exception being in parts of the Southwest Side where "Street" means a main divisor road (where, for example, 2600 block changes to 2700 block) and "Place" means a half-block between. Which can be confusing because, for example, Lasalle Street is Lasalle Parkway or even Boulevard in places, but it's all the same, but 26th Street is different from 26th Place.

A very long time ago, Chicago did use Avenue/Street differentiators, but that hasn't been the case in over a century I think. Wells Street was, at one time, known as 5th Avenue. There is still a visible 5th Avenue marker on the building on the southeast corner of Wells/Adams. And now there is an actual 5th Avenue on the West Side that splits diagonally off of Madison Street but the number name of which seems to correspond to exactly nothing.

Also, there is Grand Avenue, which is east-west through River North and the West Side, but before MLK Blvd was named as such, it was Grand Boulevard and one of the communities around it is still referred to as such.

[hlcvd]

there is an app for that

[pidgeon92]

I don't know them, but I don't go downtown very often, either.

Thankfully, yes, there is an app for that. I used to carry a little foldable map when I went downtown pre-iPhone.

[MPowering1]

Avenue – Streets running North and South. There are exceptions.
Boulevard – Streets where trucks over 5 tons are not permitted.
Court – Short roadway.
Parkway – Street that ends at a park.
Place – Street running the 1/2 block between streets.
Street – Streets running East and West. There are exceptions.


Chicago Street Numbering : chicagology

[emathias]

Originally Posted by MPowering1

Avenue – Streets running North and South. There are exceptions.
Boulevard – Streets where trucks over 5 tons are not permitted.
Court – Short roadway.
Parkway – Street that ends at a park.
Place – Street running the 1/2 block between streets.
Street – Streets running East and West. There are exceptions.


Chicago Street Numbering : chicagology

For Avenue and Street, the exceptions are so numerous and the street signs so inconsistent that I'd hesitate to even use it as a rule of thumb, personally - especially downtown.

"North-south" exceptions in the central area:
State Street
Rush Street
Dearborn Street
Clark Street
Lasalle Street
Wells Street
Franklin Street
Canal Street
Clinton Street
Jefferson Street
Desplaines Street
Halsted Street
St. Clair Street

"East-west" exceptions in the central area:
Grand Avenue
Balbo Avenue
Carol Avenue
Chicago Avenue
North Avenue

[MPowering1]

Originally Posted by emathias

For Avenue and Street, the exceptions are so numerous and the street signs so inconsistent that I'd hesitate to even use it as a rule of thumb, personally - especially downtown.

"North-south" exceptions in the central area:
State Street
Rush Street
Dearborn Street
Clark Street
Lasalle Street
Wells Street
Franklin Street
Canal Street
Clinton Street
Jefferson Street
Desplaines Street
Halsted Street
St. Clair Street

"East-west" exceptions in the central area:
Grand Avenue
Balbo Avenue
Carol Avenue
Chicago Avenue
North Avenue

Yes, I agree. I thought I'd link to the site and throw that into the mix since the op said other cities have such systems. I wanted to point out we have a similar system - but with a lot of exceptions.