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Why Addresses Have Numbers

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Re: Why Addresses Have Numbers

#41

Post by c-linkage »

deathanatos wrote: post #33
meerita wrote: post #19

I live in Barcelona, and I dislike their house numbering system. In Buenos Aires, things are much more rational: one block is 100m. So the first house may have a number somewhere between 0 and 20, depending on how far the entrance is from the corner. The last house number on that block will be below 100. On the next block, the first house will be numbered somewhere between 100 and 110-120, depending on how many meter…

In a similar fashion, I have slowly won my other half over to numbering highway exits by distance (e.g., the exit at mile¹ 5 is exit 5; if the next isn't until mile 8, then it's exit 8, and there just aren't exits 6 & 7), vs. sequentially (the exit after exit 5 is exit 6 — usually! — without regards to distance; exit 6 might be 8 miles from exit 5). The benefit of the mile-marker system is that given an exit, you kno…

I still remember when Interstate exits in the US were numbered sequentially. It seems like only 20 years ago they switched to mile markers for exit numbers.

Re: Why Addresses Have Numbers

#42

Post by brianpane »

TRiG_Ireland wrote: post #31

In Ireland, it isn't only rural addresses which have no house numbers. Plenty of houses even in towns had non-unique addresses before the introduction of eircodes. On my road, all the original houses (each standing on an acre plot) have numbers, but all the infill ones don't. You'd think the house built on the corner of 502's land might get 502A, but no. When my parents bought this house, the address was the same as…

Have Eircodes improved the situation? I know they’re supposed to provide a postcode unique to a specific address, but I’m not clear on how thoroughly they’ve been implemented.

Re: Why Addresses Have Numbers

#43

Post by hydrogen7800 »

c-linkage wrote: post #41
deathanatos wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In a similar fashion, I have slowly won my other half over to numbering highway exits by distance (e.g., the exit at mile¹ 5 is exit 5; if the next isn't until mile 8, then it's exit 8, and there just aren't exits 6 & 7), vs. sequentially (the exit after exit 5 is exit 6 — usually! — without regards to distance; exit 6 might be 8 miles from exit 5). The benefit of the mile-marker system is that given an exit, you kno…

I still remember when Interstate exits in the US were numbered sequentially. It seems like only 20 years ago they switched to mile markers for exit numbers.

Many still have "old exit XX" alongside the current exit number.

Re: Why Addresses Have Numbers

#45

Post by itintheory »

FL410 wrote: post #16

Fun one: Costa Rican addresses are still often relative to a landmark. I used to have a subcontractor there, and his address was something like "500m north of the old church" (which IIRC wasn't even there anymore). It was kinda hard to figure out how to get this into the DHL website, but it always made it there.

I learned about this when standing at the customs counter in San Jose at two in the morning. I had an address for an AirBnB but the address as given didn't come up in google maps, or the system used by customs. They wanted to know where we were staying, and it was a bit of a sticking point. Eventually we were able to whatsapp the host and got a different way of addressing it that worked. Quite a memorable encounter.

Re: Why Addresses Have Numbers

#46

Post by bijowo1676 »

spacedcowboy wrote: post #4

My house has a name, not a number, not that uncommon in the UK, especially for a 200-year-old building. I think there’s a bit of false equivalence going on here as well regarding zip codes (several thousand addresses, or thereabouts) and a UK postcode (maybe 10-15 houses). You could genuinely address a letter to me using something like: 4, L226ET That’s all it would take. No, that’s not my address, characters within…

L226ET looks like a literal geohash

A lot of GIS computer systems and apps like Uber use these to locate person/building

Re: Why Addresses Have Numbers

#47

Post by eykanal »

If this is interesting to folks, there's an entire book on this sort of phenomenon, "Seeing like a State" (https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/20186.Seeing_Like_a_S...). It talks about why land parcels are squares (instead of strip farming, where fertile land was shared by many families), how we arrived at current measurement units and not "a basketful of grapes", standardization of monetary units, and a ton more. Excellent book.

Re: Why Addresses Have Numbers

#48

Post by vhcr »

FL410 wrote: post #16

Fun one: Costa Rican addresses are still often relative to a landmark. I used to have a subcontractor there, and his address was something like "500m north of the old church" (which IIRC wasn't even there anymore). It was kinda hard to figure out how to get this into the DHL website, but it always made it there.

There was a study a decade or so ago, where they found Costa Rica loses around $720M annually due to productivity loses due to their address system.

https://archive.is/qvgOI

Re: Why Addresses Have Numbers

#49

Post by spacedcowboy »

advisedwang wrote: post #21
spacedcowboy wrote: post #4

My house has a name, not a number, not that uncommon in the UK, especially for a 200-year-old building. I think there’s a bit of false equivalence going on here as well regarding zip codes (several thousand addresses, or thereabouts) and a UK postcode (maybe 10-15 houses). You could genuinely address a letter to me using something like: 4, L226ET That’s all it would take. No, that’s not my address, characters within…

4, L22 6ET doesn't work very fast/reliably in practice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ss7A20EVpk

I mean, that video said the number/postcode combo actually worked, but arrived a day later after manual sorting.

I might just try this :)

Re: Why Addresses Have Numbers

#50

Post by historical1234 »

pimlottc wrote: post #37
bonoboTP wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The text is AI. The web design also screams AI.

It’s also very over-designed; there are multiple different styles for headings, subheadings, pull quotes, section headings, etc etc. All with their own colors, font faces, font sizes, etc. And it’s all too bloody dark!

so tell me what look bad, would you simplify the typography (fewer heading styles/fonts) or switch to a lighter, higher-contrast reading experience? I m trying to improve the site rather than just defend it. at the end it help me.
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