--- Begin Forwarded Message ---
Date: Tue, 2 Jan 2001 19:06:21 -0500
From: Nat Case <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: nightmare street grids
Sender: Nat Case <[log in to unmask]>


Happy New Year!

This is a sort of trivia question. I've contended for a while that
the Twin Ports of Duluth, Minnesota and Superior, Wisconsin have
between them the most confusing street grid system I've ever seen.
I'm curious if others can nominate even more confusingly laid out
cities.

In the event you don't have a Duluth-Superior street map handy (and,
um, we do publish one...):

Duluth is laid out along the shore of Lake Superior, on a grid
running northeast-to southwest. Lake St forms a centerline, running
down the hill perpendicular to the Lake, and continuing out onto a
spit of land known as the Point. Superior St Runs parallel to (and
close to) the Shoreline

The streets designated as "street" are pretty straightforward,
beginning at Superior St and running up the bluff to the northwest,
ending at 15th St. Northeast of Lake Ave, streets are designated
"East Xth St"; southwest of Lake Avenue, they are "West Xth St".
Streets perpendicular to Lake St on the Point are "Xth St South."

So far, so good.

There are two sets of numbered Avenues, running out parallel to Lake
Ave. Northeast of Lake Ave, they start at 1st Ave E and continue to
90th St E and beyond. Southwest of Lake Ave, they start at 1st Ave W,
and continue to 134th Ave W, including in the former village of Fond
du Lac, now part of Duluth, about 10 miles southwest of downtown,
which has its own streets, numbered 1t through 9th.

Now, for addressing purposes, these Avenues are also differentiated
as being north and south of Superior. This leads to most addresses
being composed like "N 2nd Ave W."

Just for added confusion, at about 55th Ave W and 40th Ave E, the
grids turn 45 degrees to align more-or-less with compass north.

That's Duluth.

In Superior, there are two completely independent grids. The main
downtown and the separate neighborhood of South Superior have named
avenues running north-south and numbered streets, all designated "N
Xth St", running east-west, beginning at the waterfront.

on the East side, a grid running at a diagonal along the lakeshore,
has numbered streets running northwest-southeast, beginning at the
lakeshore, designated "E Xth St." The Avenues in this part of town
are numbered , and are also designated as "East," as in "E Xth Ave."
Where the grids meet you get fun interstections like the corner of E
18th Ave, E 10th St, and N 28th St.

Finally, abutting Duluth on the west is the old railroad town of
Proctor, with its own independent numbered streets and avenues,
thankfully separated from the Duluth grid by 1/4 mile of named
streets and open space.



Any challengers?


Nat Case
Hedberg Maps, Inc

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