Relevant article: https://racketmn.com/the-history-behind-minneapoliss-alphabe...
The Minneapolis Street Grid: Explained
11–20 of 66 posts
Re: The Minneapolis Street Grid: Explained
#12A related article I've always liked: Fictitious Minneapolis street addresses: A guide for writers. https://southtwelfth.tumblr.com/post/56794633391/fictitious-... Somewhat tongue-in-cheek article that explores the intricacies of our road system to come up with a fake address that sounds believable.
interestng read. I've always been curious about how to generate realistic-sounding fictional addresses. The author's use of real-world street patterns and naming conventions is a good touch. Has anyone else used this guide or similar resources for writing purposes?
Re: The Minneapolis Street Grid: Explained
#13Many cities could benefit from this exposition. Melbourne has a similar "WTF" moment in its grid alignment.
The interesting part about Minneapolis is that it has two grids. Early development occurred at angles to the Mississippi river, while later development straightened out to N-S and E-W orientation.
This happens on train routes through towns (or, towns that developed where trains stopped) and the track is at an angle to North. Frequently the first few blocks nearest the track are aligned to the track, and then the town says “wait a minute” and suddenly everything orients to the cardinal directions
Re: The Minneapolis Street Grid: Explained
#14Penn Ave S is mostly really nice areas around Lake Harriet. Penn Ave N is one of the most dangerous areas in Minneapolis.
Re: The Minneapolis Street Grid: Explained
#15[deleted]
Re: The Minneapolis Street Grid: Explained
#16One of the things I find really amusing about "Minneapolis" streets is how they seem to go on forever. I now live roughly 40 miles away from Minneapolis, but I often come across nearby streets with the same name as the corresponding Minneapolis street if you extended it 40 miles south. And the numbers are suitably extended.
So Chowen Avenue might end at the 6200 address in Mpls, but you'll find a Chowen Avenue in Burnsville, about 25 miles south, in roughly the same place laterally as it would be if it were extended south from Mpls and the street numbers will begin with something like 130000.
Don't know if this happens in other places, but it never fails to make me smile when I see it.
Re: The Minneapolis Street Grid: Explained
#17> Map made using ArcGIS.
Were these maps made manually using ArcGIS? Or is there a way to make them programmatically?
Re: The Minneapolis Street Grid: Explained
#18Penn Ave S is mostly really nice areas around Lake Harriet. Penn Ave N is one of the most dangerous areas in Minneapolis.
One of the first things I learned after moving to Minneapolis is checking North or South when going to an address (before GPS street routing was common). My address in South Minneapolis near Minnehaha Creek was pleasant, walkable and peaceful. The equivalent in North Minneapolis, not so much.
Re: The Minneapolis Street Grid: Explained
#19One of the things I find really amusing about "Minneapolis" streets is how they seem to go on forever. I now live roughly 40 miles away from Minneapolis, but I often come across nearby streets with the same name as the corresponding Minneapolis street if you extended it 40 miles south. And the numbers are suitably extended. So Chowen Avenue might end at the 6200 address in Mpls, but you'll find a Chowen Avenue in Bur…
Chicago has that, but only in some directions. The south and southwest suburbs continue the city numbering out for a long way; the northwest suburbs all have their own numbering. I think most of the north suburbs are also on their own (but possibly the innermost ones share the city grid). Not sure about west. :)
Re: The Minneapolis Street Grid: Explained
#20Did all this arise because multiple smaller towns with their own survey grids got absorbed into the city at some point, or did the different alignments happen within an already-extant Minneapolis?