Address in USA

Hi,

I am in Seattle region and address here has NE and SE prefixed or suffixed to the number.
I was always wondering what should I infer form this prefix/suffix?

Thanks,
Kashyap

NE = North East

SE = South East

They're compass directions: NE is northeast, and SE is southeast. In Seattle they're important parts of the addresses, and it may also be significant whether they appear as prefixes or suffixes. For example there's a 23rd Ave E, and a 23rd Ave W - they are two different streets, and the W street is west of the E street. In other cases, you may have a single street divided into different segments. W Mercer turns into Mercer which turns into E Mercer, as you move from west to east. (Except E Mercer is separated from Mercer by the interstate.) There doesn't seem to be a consistent pattern regarding whether they are used as prefixes or suffixes; it varies.

Originally posted by Jim Yingst:
..and the W street is west of the E street.

Originally posted by Jim Yingst:
and the W street is west of the E street.

Asterix flashback from Asterix and the Goths (Europeans and Canadians will understand):

Asterix: We'll go East to the West Goths.
Obelix: The West Goths live in the East?
Asterix: No. The West Goths live in the West. But it's East from us. Understood?
Obelix: No.

And if you think that's confusing...

In Queens NY, there are two 89th roads (in different parts of the city).
There is also an 89th avenue a block away from one of the 89th roads which stops for a block and then picks up for two more blocks.

Of course there is also the 89th streets, East and West (they're not connected).
Google map link

It's a good thing they went with a numbering system to make things less confusing.

[Andrew: edited URL to avoid horizontal scrolling]
[ June 13, 2007: Message edited by: Andrew Monkhouse ]

I'll see your 89th streets and raise you some Seattle streets:

the intersection of Bellevue Ave E and Bellevue Pl E and Bellevue Ct E

1st Ave W separated from 1st Ave N by Queen Anne Ave

That last link is the type of change that Jim mentioned - Queen Anne Ave happens to be on the center line, so any north-south avenues to the west of it are going to be suffixed by a W for west. Any east-west streets to the west of it are going to be prefixed by a W for west.

Those rules are usually good - if someone says "West John" you know that you are looking for a street that runs east-west. Whereas if they said California SW then you know that you are looking for an avenue that runs north-south.

Kashyap - welcome to Seattle.

Regards, Andrew
[ June 13, 2007: Message edited by: Andrew Monkhouse ]

[Jim]: ..and the W street is west of the E street.

[RKS]:

Isn't that exactly what you'd expect? There are many weird things in Seattle geography, but the part you quoted isn't one of them.

[Andrew]: Those rules are usually good - if someone says "West John" you know that you are looking for a street that runs east-west. Whereas if they said California SW then you know that you are looking for an avenue that runs north-south.

I considered giving that as a general rule, but there are so many exceptions. 1st Ave N being one example (along with a number of north-south streets east of there), while most of the S streets also seem to do the opposite of what that rule would imply. 4th Ave S, S Spokane St, etc. What a mess.

Originally posted by Jim Yingst:
I considered giving that as a general rule, but there are so many exceptions. 1st Ave N being one example (along with a number of north-south streets east of there), while most of the S streets also seem to do the opposite of what that rule would imply. 4th Ave S, S Spokane St, etc. What a mess.[/QB]

I agree that there is a major mess in the road naming conventions and/or their layout.

However I think your examples still meet my rules. I would expect 4th Ave S to be an avenue since the S is a postfix and that it should be running north-south: both of these are correct. I would expect S Spokane St to be a street since it is prefixed by an S and that it should run east-west: and it does.

It is whether the compass direction is a prefix or a postfix that matters, not what the compass direction is.

As a general rule, I think it holds. There are certainly exceptions to the rule though.

My personal bugbear is heading South on I-5 and doing a 90� left turn onto I-405 North. You can't see it on the maps, but it is clearly sign posted that way. I have a lot of problems with the concept of a 90� turn which will take you from heading south-bound to north-bound.

Regards, Andrew

man, you guys live in some crazy towns. I'll stick with getting on Lindbergh heading west, then around the time it's goes north it becomes Kirkwood road, then back to being Lindbergh, eventually taking you east, all the while being known as 67.

[Andrew]: It is whether the compass direction is a prefix or a postfix that matters, not what the compass direction is.

OK, that makes more sense. I was trying to read more significance into the direction, and that way lies madness.

So if I say I live in 12808 NE 180 th ST then it is 128th Ave and 180th St intersection and in North East direction correct?

[Andrew]: I have a lot of problems with the concept of a 90� turn which will take you from heading south-bound to north-bound.

A common problem, particularly with interstates. which may be predominantly north-south but in some areas run east-west, or vice versa. At Stanford and MIT such problems are handled using logical compass directions - which works well for those people who remember that the named directions are not the reality. Unfortunately locals may grow used to thinking of the named directions as though they're correct, which leads to strange conversations when they try to apply those same directions to other streets whose direction should be unambiguous.
[ June 13, 2007: Message edited by: Jim Yingst ]

Originally posted by Jim Yingst:
[b]A common problem, particularly with interstates. which may be predominantly north-south but in some areas run east-west, or vice versa.

If you ask Google Maps to show you Cincinnati, you'll see I-275 that circles the city. I remember driving that road several years ago but I can't remember where it switches from N-S to E-W. Or if it even does; it's possible that since it's an odd-numbered interstate, it's defined to be N-S. Its Wikipedia article doesn't answer this question.

Originally posted by Kashyap Hosdurga:
So if I say I live in 12808 NE 180 th ST then it is 128th Ave and 180th St intersection and in North East direction correct?

Yep.

Regards, Andrew

Originally posted by Fred Rosenberger:
man, you guys live in some crazy towns. I'll stick with getting on Lindbergh heading west, then around the time it's goes north it becomes Kirkwood road, then back to being Lindbergh, eventually taking you east, all the while being known as 67.

Heh - try the Hume Hwy & Hume Fwy in Australia (whether it is a highway or a freeway depends on where you are on it). But going through Albury/Woodonga, you can see it coming in from the center left of the map, makes a left to head north, makes a right, makes a left, makes a right, makes a left then veers right. All while still being the Hume Highway (once you got off the freeway at the very first turn).

Regards, Andrew

In my city (Berlin) they're mixing the way street numbers are assigned: some streets have even numbers on one side, and odd numbers on the other side, while other streets have numbers running up on one side (say, 1 - 100), and then running up further on their way down the other side (101 - 200). So #1 is opposite #200, while #100 is opposite #101. There's no system I can tell which street uses which numbering scheme.

Some day I'll build a city.

It will have at least 4 streets. E Street, W Street N Street, and S Street. all roads will run diagonal to Magnetic North, and be divided into 4 segments.

Teach those people to write confusing addresses.
[ June 13, 2007: Message edited by: peter cooke ]