Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Atlanta - Adventures on the Road

I have driven in Atlanta for exactly one day, but here are some things that I know to be true:

1) Whoever named the streets was either incredibly uncreative or really stupid, probably both. All of the streets are named the same thing, and I'm not just talking about the infamous Peachtree. No, it includes lots of other streets that bear the same name, and are only delineated as Drive, Street, Circle, or Avenue. It's craziness.

2) They certainly don't skimp on the syllables when it comes to street names. Here are a few that I ran across today...Ponce de Leon Ave, Ralph David Abernathy Freeway, Joseph E Lowery Blvd, and let's not forget Ralph McGill Blvd, where we currently live! When they name a street after me, I'm going to call it Alisa Catherine Palmisano Hamilton Blvd Circle.

3) Whenever the street namers came up with a new fantastic street name, they must have just picked any random street and given it that name, regardless of whether it already had a name. That's the only explanation for why all of the streets suddenly change names at completely random intersections.

4) There's absolutely no need for street signs to help someone like me make sense of any of this!!!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

sacramento has the same 'street name switch' issue at many intersections... when i used to give directions to get to my house, i had to say, turn left on east commerce street, but be careful following the signs, b/c it is arena blvd to the right... fortunately, we have moved since then, and don't have that issue... oh, except for the exit for our house - e. bidwell street to the left, scott street to the right... damn, can't get away from it! i think it has to do with the growing suburbia - they stopped the streets at a certain spot, then when they extended them, the person extending decided they wanted to name them! craziness!

Unknown said...

Here we have the intersection of Stratford and Stratford where you have to make a right to stay on the same road, otherwise you end up on Miller. Anyhow, I'm glad your move went well. I have some friends here from Atlanta and they have a lot of really good things to say about it!

Anonymous said...

I can understand your frustration... It was hard getting used to new street names when we moved to Mesa, AZ. Here, the street names changes when it becomes another town or city... Country Club in Mesa turns into Arizona Ave. in Tempe... or else when the street curves around it suddenly becomes soumething else. Phoenix and its surrounding areas are all based on a mile grid system which is easy to figure out. You just mention the main cross-roads and then take the directions from there. However, a problem could arise when the street doesn't go all the way thru... like a mountain in the way or developments and housing before the street continue out the other side. You have to rely on the numbers to know what area you are in...
It'll take a while but you'll figure it out. Hey... you should be used to living in the south!

Hugs,
Aunt Nancy

Anonymous said...

Just beware that when you go from Atlanta to Roswell, Roswell Road turns into Atlanta Road, or is that Atlanta Street?!?