Where the streets have silly names

[Duke87 1,070]

Sometimes, an old street has a name that was innocuous enough when it was first coined but has, due to evolving language, become funny by pure coincidence. And sometimes a local DOT names something silly without thinking. Take the following examples from New York City.

Exhibit A:

"People with AIDS Plaza". Yup. This is right in front of City Hall, no less. A rather silly name certainly, but we're just getting started here.

Exhibit B:

Many of you have probably seen a picture of this street sign before. It made its way all over the internet as one of those "funny pictures" several years back. Well, if you wondered whether it actually existed or whether it was photoshopped... it's real. It's in the Inwood section of northern Manhattan. If you want to check it out yourself, take the A or 1 train to Dyckman Street, walk west until you hit Seaman Avenue, then turn right. Squeamish be warned, though, the neighborhood here's a tad rough around the edges.

Exhibit C:

You Faile.

And if you like that, check out the next block over:

...no comment.

This dynamic duo is easily reached by subway from Simpson St on the (2)(5) or Whitlock Av on the (6). Again, though, rough neighborhood. This is the South Bronx.

Anyone got any more to share?

[Muck308 55]

Nice thread, Duke. I assume that People With AIDS Plaza is in front of the Bronx City Hall right? Do you mean that gargantuan building just east of Yankee Stadium? Man I drove right past that in July and didn't notice! Of course I was busy dodging Yankee fans darting across the street. Also, I may be missing something here... I don't see the humor in Faile Street. I do see the humor in the last though. Give me some time and I'll snap some photos of dumbass street names in Pittsburgh. Ass Road comes to mind... (it's actually Gass, but the G has been blemished for years) No no no, that won't do at all, I'll find some that haven't been modified by local tricksters.

[Duke87 1,070]

Originally posted by: Muck308 Nice thread, Duke. I assume that People With AIDS Plaza is in front of the Bronx City Hall right? Do you mean that gargantuan building just east of Yankee Stadium? Man I drove right past that in July and didn't notice! Of course I was busy dodging Yankee fans darting across the street. quote>

Um, no. The building by Yankee Stadium you're thinking of is likely the old Bronx County Courthouse, although Bronx Borough Hall is right near there, too.

When I say it's near City Hall I mean City Hall - in lower Manhattan. The only City Hall in New York City. Thought that would have been obvious. Guess it wasn't necessarily quite so obvious to an out of towner.

Also, I may be missing something here... I don't see the humor in Faile Street. quote>

Not familiar with the whole "Fail"/"You fail"/"Made of fail"/"phail"/etc. meme, eh?

[Muck308 55]

Apparently not. My mistake about City Hall. I have never been to that location. I am an out-of-towner, but I have endless random knowledge of the city scattered about my brain from hearing my father's stories about growing up in New York, thus making me think I know where AIDS Plaza is...

EDIT; Oh... after looking at the pic again I recall why I thought it was the Bronx. The banner.

[Raysfan16 5]

There's a street at Rutgers University called Hoes Lane (Really ironic, anyone remember that Don Imus-Womens Basketball team scandal?)

[Odainsaker 2,136]

I know a San Antonio neighborhood where the streets were named after in deference to the regions live oaks and scenic points. Hence, anems along the line of "Live Circle," "Points Edge," "Live Lane," "Point Live"...

There is one cul-de-sac in this neighborhood named "Live Point," which is all well and fine, but the streetsign has the additional marker "Dead End."

A few miles away, another succession of streets were named after quail birds..."Quail Point," "Quail's Nest", "Flying Quail," etc.

I did a double-take in the car when I passed "Shooting Quail," which was followed by the next street, "Falling Quail," which was also marked "Dead End."

I think someone was having too much fun in that neighborhood, as there is also a "Bums Crossing" and a "Low Bid Lane."

[Duke87 1,070]

Originally posted by: Raysfan16 There's a street at Rutgers University called Hoes Lanequote>

Now that's an understatement. It's Route 18, a major highway!

Next time I'm in New Brunswick I'm going to have to make a detour to get some pictures of that.

There are also plenty of places where you can find a "Hooker Lane" or something similar, named either after Thomas Hooker or someone else with the same last name, back when "hooker" meant "fisherman". I know of one in Greenwich, CT (which I don't have a picture of, might want to take care of that some time).

The other one on my to do list is that apparently off in some odd corner of Queens there's a block of a street which NYCDOT has christened with one of its many instances of naming a block or an intersection after someone or something (Like "People with AIDS Plaza")... called "Arlene Fuchs Katz Drive". Now, that name is pronounced "fyooks", but that doesn't make it any less funny.

Finally.... this isn't my picture (obviously), although it's pretty self-explanatory:

I'm told it's from Baltimore.

[blackrobertmoses 0]

In SE DC, theres 2 major strips known as Good Hope Rd and Minnestota Ave............and this is in the poorest and most violent area in DC...........When you think of inner city slums and ghettos, Minnesota is not the first thing to come to most peoples minds.........In addition, theres another section of SE DC known as congress heights...........you go there and youll find theres nothing congressional about it...........

In New York, I find the most menacing public housing projects can have these sweet peaceful names.....examples are:

Castle Hill

Millbrook

Soundview

Forest

Melrose

Cypress Hills

Redfern

Edgemere

Ravenswood

[Duke87 1,070]

Originally posted by: blackrobertmoses

In New York, I find the most menacing public housing projects can have these sweet peaceful names.....quote>

Well, they're not going to give them nasty sounding names, now are they?

A lot of them were named after the neighborhood they were built in. The Throgs Neck Houses are in Throgs Neck, the Marble Hill Houses are in Marble Hill, etc. That's where most of those "nice" names come from.

Something also worth noting about projects in New York: originally, they were not nasty or crime-ridden places (and of course they weren't intended to be).

What brought about this change was a change in policy. Originally, the projects were only open to families where the father had a job. Single mothers, people on welfare, divorced parents... they weren't allowed. It was when the projects were opened up to them that they really went downhill.

Indeed, originally the projects were only intended to house the less fortunate but responsible and productive. Then it was determined that they needed to let in all the "riff-raff" and burdens on society that originally were prohibited and the projects thus became concentrations of "riff-raff".

Another interesting tidbit: many of the projects were originally white only. Then that became illegal and they had to integrate.

The idea of housing projects filled only with white families may seem completely surreal, but that's how it was in the beginning.

[Tarkus 6,933]

A few I can think of:

Tualatin, Oregon has a SW Cipole Road.  The name is actually a corruption of the Italian word for "onion", cipolle.  Used to be a number of onion farms in the area, but they've largely given way to light industrial.  Right in the vicinity, there's some other odd ones--SW Myslony Street and SW Leveton Drive--the latter sounds like some sort of subatomic particle.

Redmond, Oregon has an Odem Medo Road, which is rather cool, as it's palindromic.

Annapolis, Maryland has a good one, too--Silopanna Road, which is Annapolis backwards.

And Oregon Highway 212 is called the "Clackamas-Boring Highway" for most of its distance. 

-Tarkus

[gurrgkud 2]

Just out of curiosity.... I've been to "People with A.I.D.S." Plaza countless of times, and I've always wondered, is there any special meaning behind it? Does A.I.D.S. stand for something else other than Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome?

[Joe 90 358]

Some from NZ that I know of (sorry, no pictures):

Excellent Street, Collingwood - "No Exit or Beach Access"

Wynand Place, Christchurch - nothing unusual there until you realise its next to Riccarton Racecourse!

Nonoti Road, North Canterbury - apparently when asked to name the road, the answer was "No, not I".

[spa 970]

In Halifax we have a few interesting ones, but none as funny as the ones you posted Duke. Studley Avenue has Dal's old gym on it. A friend of mine here was once considering two apartments, one on Bliss Street and one on Bland Street (he ended up elsewhere but it gave a few chuckles at the time). My brother inlaw spent two years in Halifax a while back and loved that he lived on South Park Street. Halifax also has a Trollope Street!

[Duke87 1,070]

Originally posted by: gurrgkud Just out of curiosity.... I've been to "People with A.I.D.S." Plaza countless of times, and I've always wondered, is there any special meaning behind it? Does A.I.D.S. stand for something else other than Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome?quote>

Means exactly what it sound like. It's named in honor of anyone who has AIDS. Who knows why. The DOT is notoriously silent on these things, placing signs but never explaining them.

Many commemorate local residents who did something or other noteworthy locally. Others commemorate policemen, firefighters, or soldiers who died in the line of duty. There are also several named after people who died at the World Trade Center on 9/11. Usually it's the block they lived on.

One that's not funny but still interesting to know exists is that there's a "Regis Philbin Avenue" in The Bronx. The block in the question is the block his boyhood home was on. 

[Aontan 0]

In Ireland:

Dublin has 'Misery Hill', 'Love Lane', 'Dolphin's Barn', 'Stillorgan Road', 'Kill Avenue' and 'Ballsbridge Avenue'.

Galway has 'Dyke Road' and 'Seaman Drive.'

Limerick has 'El Dorado' and 'Bloodmill Road'.

Cork has 'Dyke Parade'.

There's also a few funny place names... like Muff, Emo, Hackballscross, Newtwopothouse, Kill, Kilkenny (if you like South Park), Cocktown, Horse and Jockey, and more I can't think of at the moment...

[Merlin of Flyote 8]

England, Kent County.

Not street names, but the names of a couple of hamlets near to where I live:-

Thong, and about two miles south of that one is Lower Bush

[Duke87 1,070]

Originally posted by: Aontan

Galway has 'Dyke Road'

Cork has 'Dyke Parade'.quote>

And Stamford, CT has a Dyke Lane:

Obviously these names all refer to the marine structure. This street in particular has been called "Dyke Lane" for at least 150 years. And its name is a bit of a relic, considering that nowadays, at least in American English, it's pretty much always spelled "dike".

[WillG_75 19]

Not really funny, but there's a newer neighborhood just a few blocks from my house where all the streets are named after dogs.

Retriever Rd

St. Bernard Circle

Dashchund Ct

Beagle Blvd

http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCP&cp=39.911053~-82.849252&style=h&lvl=16&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=4967302&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1

[gurrgkud 2]

Originally posted by: Duke87

Originally posted by: gurrgkud Just out of curiosity.... I've been to "People with A.I.D.S." Plaza countless of times, and I've always wondered, is there any special meaning behind it? Does A.I.D.S. stand for something else other than Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome?quote>

Means exactly what it sound like. It's named in honor of anyone who has AIDS. Who knows why. The DOT is notoriously silent on these things, placing signs but never explaining them.

Many commemorate local residents who did something or other noteworthy locally. Others commemorate policemen, firefighters, or soldiers who died in the line of duty. There are also several named after people who died at the World Trade Center on 9/11. Usually it's the block they lived on.

One that's not funny but still interesting to know exists is that there's a "Regis Philbin Avenue" in The Bronx. The block in the question is the block his boyhood home was on. quote>

Ahhh ok.... that does make sense.

Thanks!

[TEG24601 32]

Kind of reminds me of the story of two streets that intersect in North Portland, Oregon, they are Haight and Failing. It also doesn't help that Failing is a street that does not pass over or under I-5, but does exist on both sides. The street is connected however via a pedestrian bridge, aptly named the "Failing Pedestrian Bridge". I always crack up seeing that when I enter Portland.

TEG

[Merlin of Flyote 8]

Dartford, Kent, England.

New Housing Area North of Dartford Centre, near to the river Thames, has street names of Rolling Stones Hits.

Mick Jagger came from Wilmington, a village just south of Dartford.

[Jay Ess 15]

Thank god for my county map

Some wierd names in Oakland County:

Lamplighter Dr. - Rochester Hills, MI

Leknoll St. - Madison Heights, MI

Dixiana St. - Oakland Township, MI

Richalva St. - Waterford Township, MI

Manzana Dr. - Wolverine Lake, MI

[yoshimitsu31 2]

Near Austin there is a Gatling Gun Lane.

[fivedayrental 0]

Some funny names in my area include Flirtation Drive, Poverty Hollow Road (ironically lots of high end homes), Poor House Road, Lake George Road, there is in intersection of Najavo & Cherokee Drive, Dick Finn Rd, Aunt Hack Rd and Two Pence Road among others.

[Duke87 1,070]

Originally posted by: fivedayrental Poverty Hollow Roadquote>

There's one of those in Redding, CT.

Over in Madison, CT, there's a Duck Hole Road.

And even better: Opening Hill Road.... which goes right by Cockaponset State Forest. (linky) Now there's a nice juxtaposition.

On the matter of being overly generic, Madison, CT also has a "Scenic Road". And so does Lewisboro, NY.

[blackrobertmoses 0]

Originally posted by: Duke87

Originally posted by: blackrobertmoses

In New York, I find the most menacing public housing projects can have these sweet peaceful names.....quote>

Well, they're not going to give them nasty sounding names, now are they?

A lot of them were named after the neighborhood they were built in. The Throgs Neck Houses are in Throgs Neck, the Marble Hill Houses are in Marble Hill, etc. That's where most of those "nice" names come from.

Something also worth noting about projects in New York: originally, they were not nasty or crime-ridden places (and of course they weren't intended to be).

What brought about this change was a change in policy. Originally, the projects were only open to families where the father had a job. Single mothers, people on welfare, divorced parents... they weren't allowed. It was when the projects were opened up to them that they really went downhill.

Indeed, originally the projects were only intended to house the less fortunate but responsible and productive. Then it was determined that they needed to let in all the "riff-raff" and burdens on society that originally were prohibited and the projects thus became concentrations of "riff-raff".

Another interesting tidbit: many of the projects were originally white only. Then that became illegal and they had to integrate.

The idea of housing projects filled only with white families may seem completely surreal, but that's how it was in the beginning.quote>

I knew all that stuff........but its still ironic @ the end of the day.........

[HalcyonSpirit 0]

There's a street in New Jersey named Shades of Death Road.  I've been there a few times, since it's not too far from my home.  It even has its own Wiki entry!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shades_Of_Death_Road

[thepokemaniac 18]

HaHa! These are funny streets!

[nofunk 1,933]

Originally posted by: Duke87

Exhibit B:

Many of you have probably seen a picture of this street sign before. It made its way all over the internet as one of those "funny pictures" several years back. Well, if you wondered whether it actually existed or whether it was photoshopped... it's real. It's in the Inwood section of northern Manhattan. If you want to check it out yourself, take the A or 1 train to Dyckman Street, walk west until you hit Seaman Avenue, then turn right. Squeamish be warned, though, the neighborhood here's a tad rough around the edges.quote>

Gosh, even the street you take the train to is questionable!

Here's my submission, from the northern suburbs of Detroit:

[ilikehotdogsalot 311]

Just noticed something about your title, based it off the U2 song, eh?