Which metropolitan areas have the best street grids? (map, place, America)

[mjlo]

Detroit is on a pretty easy to understand grid too.

Louisville is the opposite of a city on a grid. It has to be the hardest city I've ever learned to get around as there are very few direct connections between thoroughfares. A small portion of the old city is on a grid, but even that is difficult to learn as streets change names or become one way seemingly at random. I'm not sure there's a city that is more difficult, kind of adds to its charm.

[Gantz]

Doesn't Salt Lake City have the best street grid?
As far as I remember, their addresses are based on the coordinate system, so you know where the place is without looking at the map.

[saybanana]

I voted Los Angeles Metro.

It's just bigger and grander than any other metro.

[masssachoicetts]

Originally Posted by saybanana

I voted Los Angeles Metro.

It's just bigger and grander than any other metro.

i was like what, and then I realized you are from LA/live there. So this comment made sense.

But, yeah, Chicago.

[thedirtypirate]

Two pages in and no way has mentioned the grand daddy of street grids in the US?


wikimedia


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grid_p...omas_Holme.jpg

Philadelphia served as a model for many cities and towns across the United States, probably most famously in San Francisco where they chose to use the same names for some of the streets.

Story of cities #7: Philadelphia grid marks birth of America's urban dream - The Guardian

[Duderino]

Originally Posted by thedirtypirate

Philadelphia served as a model for many cities and towns across the United States, probably most famously in San Francisco where they chose to use the same names for some of the streets.

Story of cities #7: Philadelphia grid marks birth of America's urban dream - The Guardian

Indeed, and most importantly the historic nature of Philly's grided areas--with generally very narrow streets and small blocks--is what allows it to be incredibly walkable compared to "younger" American cities, which were laid out with much larger average blocks and wider rights-of-way:

When it comes to connectivity for instance, much of Philadelphia benefits from a grid of relatively short blocks. Philadelphia’s Center City blocks tend to average around 400 to 500 feet, giving pedestrians a substantial degree of freedom in their choice of routes between two points. Dan Burden and Reid Ewing agree that blocks over 500 feet start to push the boundaries of walkability. As Ewing put it, “Generally shorter is better. Four hundred feet probably is O.K., 600 feet is getting a little long, 800 feet is too long because you’re requiring people to walk four or five hundred feet to get to an intersection.”

https://whyy.org/articles/3568/

[ckhthankgod]

This thread reminds me of this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBsi5FGbY2Y

[Chi-town]

Seeing the Chicago grid from above and especially at night shows its scope in even uniform street-lighting throughout the grid. Even its diagonal streets that most were originally old Native American trails incorporated with the grid. They dissect the city grid. Industrial areas are where it differs.

Two short videos from a plane landing and over part of the city at night showing a lighted grid as continuous streets vs cul de sacs and T intersections where some cities have short streets and many abruptly that just end.

Very Short over Chicago by plane at fast speed.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJLyAbsdSsM

Short Fast-speed over city landing at O'hare.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgMtZwpGLJE&t=50s

City grid is 8-blocks to a mile between main streets. Between each street is a alley. Not counted as streets.

Chicago owes its grid to - Its first street plan created in 1830 by James Thompson at the behest of the Illinois and Michigan Canal Commissioners, when the city had a population below 300. Thompson created streets and lots.

Thompson already had alleys behind each street (a Chicago standard) that Chicago owes to Thompson. These alleys were already utility alleys. Not to be lined with tighter homes. The city maintained alleys thru its growth and has like 90% with them till some met suburbs with driveways from the front to the garage in back.

How Chicago's early 20th century re-numbering and naming streets. Is with us today and a example Houston used.

First drawn up in 1901 and finally adopted in 1909 Chicago created a completely new and foolproof Chicago grid system for all street numbers with addresses matching up. A man named -
Edward Paul Brennan created the new-re-numbering and renaming system of Chicago's whole grid.

Link on the grid.

https://www.domu.com/blog/chicago-co...-grid-system:(

The reason Chicago's addresses and street names were then ridiculous. Was Once some of the first suburbs/townships were built just outside the original city. The result of Chicago passing ordinances after its Great Fire of 1871. They basically mandated all rebuilt and new homes in the city had to be made of brick. No more just wood-frame structures as before alone built just otside the original city. They could again rebuild homes not brick being cheaper and even larger homes. Seems the city-lot size continued. A mass annexation/merging then occured back with the city, within a couple decades and the city could grow outward from there again.

The old problem was after the merging of these earliest burbs. The street-addresses did not match and multiple streets having the same names. A logistic nightmare for just the Post Office in finding addresses and visitors.

Brennan also basically did it free and lobbied the city was a savior afterwards. Everyone got a new address. The core at first excluded. Had it be such a success. That it was fully redone also.

[Bitey]

Wow, they have to go all the way out over the lake to line up for an E-W landing. Basically just lines up with Lawrence Avenue which guides them right to the runway.

[P Larsen]

New Haven's grid is older still than Philly's:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Ha...en_in_1641.jpg