totient: (Default)
phi ([personal profile] totient) wrote2008-04-08 12:54 am

house numbers

I've just been proofreading the SOS map, and I've discovered something bizarre about house numbering in Somerville.

I had thought that the rule was that odd houses are on the north or east sides of the street. Sometimes "north" is not where you think it is in Somerville, and some streets are just exceptions.

Turns out the rule is actually, odd numbers are on the right hand side of the street as you walk in the direction of increasing numbers. Most streets in Somerville are numbered with the low end at the south or east end of the street. But some streets are numbered the other way. Some of these are one way streets, but not all (Kidder St, for instance, is two way). Mostly when they're one way, the one way runs in the direction of increasing numbers, but not always. Some neighborhoods seem to have more of this kind of thing than others (south of Union Square and between Willow and College Ave in particular).

Who knew? At least now I can tell which house I'm looking at in Google Maps.

[identity profile] kjc007.livejournal.com 2008-04-08 05:13 am (UTC)(link)
Huh. That's really interesting, actually.

But don't forget that the Gov't periodically messes about with the direction of a given street, trying to tune traffic. So it may not have always been one way, or it might've been one way in the other direction.

[identity profile] i-leonardo.livejournal.com 2008-04-08 11:57 am (UTC)(link)
i don't think that holds on lowell st: my house is on the odd side, almost the highest number on my street, and is on the right. the sections of lowell that are one-way do run in the increasing direction.

[identity profile] foms.livejournal.com 2008-04-09 04:07 am (UTC)(link)
I'll just hide my head in the sand, over here. The Boston metropolitan area could double its tourist income...

Today is 12 May...

[identity profile] weegoddess.livejournal.com 2008-05-12 10:23 am (UTC)(link)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! I hope you have a wonderful, fabulous day.

;-)