--- 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 --- End Forwarded Message ---