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Group Hopes to Rename Street After Douglas Adams
interstellar_donkey writes "Despite the recent brouhaha over the renaming of 4th Ave after César Chávez, a Portland group is pushing to rename a local street after the late writer Douglas Adams. The street? Why, 42nd Ave, of course. According to their website, the renaming will reflect Portlanders' commitment to the arts, respect for the environment, desire to provide technological access to all, their passion to further education to all people, and most importantly remind Portlanders DON'T PANIC. This appears to be a serious movement, with preliminary paperwork already in the works."
Is this the first story to feature a period at the end of the title?
It would be so much more in the spirit of Douglas Adams.
Call the intersection at 6th and 9th 42.
it was at the corner of 6th and 9th...
"I bless every day that I continue to live, for every day is pure profit."
How does naming a street after a humor author have anything to do with the environment?
All streets will be named Douglas Adams. Only the hoopiest of froods will manage to find their way.
...another group has started preliminary paperwork to have 23rd renamed "Illuminatus", and a Prostitute Action Group are to rename 68th "We'll Owe You One".
Operation Guillotine is in effect.
Actually Matt Groening is from Portland,OR and many of the Simpsons character are named after streets in Portland.
I would strongly recommend not clicking that.
The link above got blocked by my stuff, but very little research reveals it's something you don't want to click on anywhere, especially not work.
There should be also a marble and bronze monument to either DNA or to the Answer.
We'd need to do this in every civilised city of the Universe.
Maybe Computers will never be as intelligent as Humans.
For sure they won't ever become so stupid. [VR-1988]
Boring, boring, boring.....
The metropolis of London has no numbered streets, no grid system and numerous name conflicts - the number of 'High Streets' is - if I remember correctly - in excess of 50 and we Brits manage fine. And how can you live in a town which hasn't, at some point in its history, featured a 'Gropecunt Lane'.
init 11 - for when you need that edge.
I can see business booming in that street if renamed.
Restaurants, holistic detective agencies, sandwich stands, towel and fish shops...
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
I live in Europe, and we have had names for our streets since... Well, since the streets were placed there. And I can tell you that we're not hopelessly getting lost all the time. The human brain is quite capable of linking names to places...
Naming a street after someone is a great tribute to that person, and in my book Douglas Adams deserves to have more than 1 street named after him. 42 of them in fact!
09 f9 11 02 9d 74 e3 5b d8 41 56 c5 63
So that's where I left my towel.
http://jfin.org/jFin pure java open source financial library
Look this up, grasshopper.
Patents Drive Free Software as Hurricanes Drive Construction Industry
If any street in London is to be renamed it must be in Islington. As a resident of the area DNA used to live Id suggest one of the side streets off upper street... maybe near Hotbalck Desiatos(for those that dont know thats a real estate agent... the real estate agent came first). How does one get the ball rolling on renaming a street in London? Id be up for a petition or whatever. Actually Ive come over quite serious all of a sudden. If anywhere has a street named after Douglas then it should be in Islington. If anyone has any ideas please mail be at kilgoretrout11235@yahoo.com
Oh and did you know threadneedle st used to be a gropecune lane?
No doubt being in America they're going to try and call it Doglas Adams or some other such vowel-mangling.
-1 not first post
I live on 34th and NE Stanton, just 8 blocks (20 blocks per mile in Portland, so .4 miles away), and AS a resident, I HEAVILY support this measure. I used to work on 42nd and Broadway and am involved in the local business community there.
I'm also an atheist and an environmentalist, as are most of the people here. Well, there are a lot of lesbians, too, at least according to the Census Bureau factfinder website (I have no idea how they found that out, but it's true, for I bought my house from a couple).
It actually came up because the Hispanic community wanted to rename Interstate Ave after Cesar Chavez (since Union was renamed MLK), which the people on Interstate thought was dumb, so it met with heavy public protest. The Mayor and Council were all for it, and then the public found out.
Since 42nd is a kind of major street, it would be very cool to have it renamed after Douglas Adams! We could open a Don't Panic Coffee Shop (or electronic gadget store).
I think the only major complaint would come from "42nd Street Station", a little mini-mall just off Sandy Blvd that would probably have to change their name!
It just needs some money to pay for paperwork, so please, donate!
One can learn the streets of a city, but an intelligent syntax and order are there to help out those who are not so intimately familiar with your city. A good layout a person without a map can establish direction of travel and ever be hopelessly lost, well for the most part.
There is no sanctuary. There is no sanctuary. SHUT UP! There is no shut up. There is no shut up.
There are several streets in Atlanta with "Peachtree" as part of their name (not all of which are listed here), including Peachtree Creek Road, Peachtree Lane, Peachtree Avenue, Peachtree Circle, Peachtree Drive, Peachtree Plaza, Peachtree Way, Peachtree Memorial Drive, New Peachtree Road, Peachtree Walk, and Peachtree Valley Road. West Peachtree Street is not the western branch of Peachtree Street, but a major parallel north-south street located one block west of Peachtree Street running through Midtown. Others include Peachtree Battle Avenue, commemorating the Battle of Peachtree Creek, Peachtree-Dunwoody Road running between Peachtree Street and Dunwoody, Georgia, and Old Peachtree Road, which traces part of the route of the original Peachtree Trail for which the road is named. Some of these streets intersect with Peachtree Street, others are extensions of it, and some are nowhere near it.
Good enough?
Care about privacy? Read this!
I hear the gridlock is fun too with a grid system. :)
Comment removed based on user account deletion
... on the towel store on that street.
Use your head, can't you, use your head,
You're on earth, there's no cure for that - S. Beckett
Are there different streets in different parts of the city that are all called Peachtree Street (or Road, or whatever, the important thing is that they are exactly the same)? Is there a Gropecunt Lane? If the answer to these questions is no, then thank you for playing, better luck next time.
One of the many changes involved in the paperwork is actually that a residential area will be bulldozed to make way for a highway overpass to the new Douglas Adams Avenue.
'Gropecunt Lane', now Threadneedle Street, is in the City of London (the area of the ancient city of London). The Bank of England is on Threadneedle Street.
About 20 minutes on the Central Line (London Underground, i.e. subway train) will get you from one to the other.
Street numbers maybe boring, but as the parent stated
... adds confusion not only to those who live with it, but visitors as well
If I'm visiting a city using a street numbering system that is consistent, I find it is easier to get around. That is, let's say I'm going up 22ND AVE, and I just passed 45TH ST, there is a damn good chance that the next street is 46TH ST (or 44TH depending on the direction of the numbers) without having to constantly look at a map to know which street is next.
And yes, if you are a long time resident of a city, you can get around just fine without numbered streets, but you could probably get around with streets labeled with pictograms or hieroglyphs, or unnamed streets, but damn, a visitor or a new resident would have a hard time getting around.
I lived in a city with a fairly logical street numbering system for a long time, and I still found it convenient even after living there a while.
Accentuate the positive, don't waste your mod points on the negative.
I read that, even now, a majority of Americans would not be willing to accept an atheist holding public office. Would they be willing to name a street after an outspoken atheist?
The story I heard was that gropecunt lane was a generic term appied at one point all over the country. Not just threadneedle(tho thats the most famous). The only remaining one left is in Kent and has been change to just be grope lane.
Using Dirk Gently's I Ching Calculator (please do follow the instructions), I came to the following conclusion regarding renaming the street:
THE JUDGEMENT OF KING WEN:
28. EXTREME OVERLOAD
The Environment Is Demand Temporarily Load With Many Events, Ideas And Situations, Which Your Consideration. You/They May Fight In Your Attempt, To Solve Problems. If Problems Is Not Bothered From Misunderstanding And Lack At Assessment By Other At Your Attempts, To Solve. If Your Poise Maintain Will Help You, To Follow. Do Not Use Powerful Methods. His Flexible And Prepare You For Fast Passages.
THE COMMENTARY OF THE DUKE OF CHOU:
Line 2: With The Right Companions, You Can Reach Almost Everything
When asked why 42th street, the computer answered:
"I think the problem is that the question was too broadly based..."
"Forty two?!" yelled Loonquawl. "Is that all you've got to show for seven and a half million years' work?"
"I checked it very thoroughly," said the computer, "and that quite definitely is the answer. I think the problem, to be quite honest with you, is that you've never actually known what the question is."
I know you're out there. I can feel you now. I know that you're afraid. You're afraid of us. You're afraid of change.
Why not rename Gladstone Street, it already has The Pub at the End of the Universe. http://portland.citysearch.com/profile/11495658/portland_or/pub_at_the_end_of_the_universe.html
threadeds blog
I would rename a street after Aleister Crowley
"No, it's not DougDoug, it's TomTom".
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
Well that'll teach me to lob cheap puns and innuendo around on Slashdot.
intellectual property? Can you really start coffee shops et al. named DON'T PANIC that serve the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster without being sued by the IP holders?
THL phish sticks
Don't leave home without your towel!!! :O
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
The irony of the number of MLK streets (roughly 1 per any city of size in the US) is that, if MLK himself was terribly serious about the faith he proclaimed as a Baptist minister (and all the evidence seems to indicate that) he might be more than a tiny bit embarrassed at all the attention lavished on him, rather than the Christ.
In a programming context, when we forget the difference between the pointer and the object, ++ungood things often follow.
Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
If they pull this off I might have to move there and open a towel shop with a pub next door.
Ascii artist &
Think about it : I blurb on your blog about a wiki mashup No scam or spam, O google No phising nor pharming O youtube Only Boingo, and Linkedin and Jaiku For I am a good netizen All the web is already in Vogon's poetry.
It's sure comforting know there are groups out there that are tackling important issues like this. Otherwise, I might be inclined to believe that people in this country have their priorities out of whack.
"Ask not what your country can do for you." --John F. Kennedy
I love you more and more each day Portland!
For those who have never been in Portland, Oregon, we should explain that people are a little different here.
Question: Why do hippies move to Portland? Answer: Because there are no jobs.
The world's smallest park is here, and the world's largest bookstore.
The spirit of Douglas Adams lives on in the body of Linus Torvalds, who lives in Portland, creating artistic chaos for commercial operating systems. Douglas Adams loved technical gizmos. "Douglas was a keen technologist, writing about such inventions as e-mail and Usenet before they became widely popular, or even widely known." Linus Torvalds makes technical gizmos happen.
"Manage fine"? When the tube got bombed in 2005, the bookstores quickly ran out of A-Z books (detailed city map books) 'cause commuters couldn't find their way home without them.
In a rational sort of city, the natives don't walk around with maps.
"We are here on Earth to fart around. Don't let anybody tell you any different!" -- Kurt Vonnegut
He's only been spending the past 6 years dead for tax reasons.. Imagine his shock when he comes back... /snif
...we named our son after Douglas Adams. Well, one of our son's middle names is Douglas, anyway. About 80% of the people we explain this two have no idea who Douglas Adams is, which I think Adams would have appreciated.
"Destroy science and religion. Science would re-emerge exactly the same; but not religion." - Penn Jillette, paraphrased
What was the question? Seriously I didn't see one, I just saw 42 as the answer.
Jumpstart the tartan drive.
Which Portland is this? Oregon, Maine, or some Portland in between? While not quite as common as Springfield, there are still a few of them.
#include <signature.h>
Bunch of goddamn stoners.
What bugs me is people always just call it "Portland" - they feel no need to disambiguate."Portland", as far as I'm concerned, is in Maine... Nice of Oregon to name their city after it, though.
Bow-ties are cool.
This renaming initiative is actually not a bad idea. However, the subject of renaming streets in portland is a very sore one. Just this year, our wonderfully recognizable Portland Blvd. was changed to Rosa Parks Way by the city council who recklessly bypassed our carefully written renaming guidelines by simply voting to not follow these rules in a city council meeting. The sign changes were partial, the prior notice was virtually nonexistent, and it has created a lot of confusion and malcontent. Why they chose to rename portland blvd and not some other less worthy named street like "killingsworth" remains a mystery.
If that wasn't bad enough, our mayor has been wasting so much time and energy on a failed initiative to get historic interstate avenue rename "cesar chavez ave", creating much hostility and discussions of racism while in the meantime cyclists are being KILLED due to dangerous conditions that have cars turning right into bikes who have their own lane. This, after the mayor tried to stifle funding for safer bike planning (which doesn't even need that much money, certainly less than the SOFTBALL organizations receive).
Portland, Maine: population 63,882. While the biggest city in Maine, and probably a regional economic center, not a major city.
Portland, Oregon: population 537,081, with a metro population exceeding 2 million. Third largest city in the Pacific Northwest. Significant shipping port for grain and lumber. Home of the NBA's "Trailblazers" professional basketball club. Considered a pioneer in aggressive urban planning and transit-friendly development.
We might have been named for Portland, Maine.. but we've grown a little since the 1850's.
Portland, Oregon: population 537,081 Nevertheless, a little disambiguation would be nice. When the headline has no mention of what Portland you're talking about, and I have to dig around in the article to find out which Portland they're talking about - it's a bit annoying, you know?
Bow-ties are cool.
I'm one of the people who was vocally against the original renaming of Interstate Avenue to Chavez, and a resident of the Arbor Lodge neighborhood that was the most opposed to the renaming. It is worth pointing out that this renaming was a hot-button in local politics. People were called "racist" for opposing the renaming.
Fourth was brought up as a last-minute compromise that nobody was happy with.
Those interested might want to read the St. Johns Sentinel, the community newspaper up here in North Portland. Here's a good starting point.
There's more than one city named San Francisco, yet nobody ever needs "disambiguation" there. Nobody ever hears the words "San Francisco" and immediately thinks of "San Francisco, New Mexico."
Bow-ties are cool.
Flanders, Quimby, Lovejoy, Kearny . . . it makes walking to the indie movie house on 21st fun!
Trust me... Portland is like no other American city (or any other human settlement for that matter) on the planet.
It's kinda charming that way :)
Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
...why the strife?! I see no reason we are obligated to rename streets after dead/famous people. It provides nothing other than a token nod to the arts, or ethnic minorities, etc. allowing us to say we've done our part without actually making any sacrifice. On the other hand, it costs many people time and money, as businesses have to update cards, ads, signs, etc. to reflect the new address, mapping programs will have to update their databases, etc. I live in the city, and I am frankly horrified by the name-calling, vicious accusations, and general uncivilized conduct that these debates have caused.
Fear the penguin.
Try a search on google maps for "muirhouse drive, Edinburgh, Scotland". Sadly their map doesn't show the true horror as it fails to list the names of many of the small cul-de-sacs
Stories like this make me proud to have the Slashdot username I have.
I think that renaming County Road 9 or Rockford Road in Hennepin County, Minnesota might be a better idea in some ways. First off, Rockford Road for much of its length is also known as 42nd Ave N. The street originally was a direct connection to Rockford, MN. However the state of Minnesota probably took over a large section of road that used to be known as Rockford Road when it built MN-55 so now some inner ring suburbs are left with a road fragment with the name Rockford Road that really doesn't attach to Rockford, MN. So, in some ways it is an ideal candidate. IIRC few businesses have the name Rockford in their title along this road. However there is a public library run by the county that is known as the "Rockford Road Library" so renaming this would be a nice bonus. For most of its length, Rockford Road is a four lane road with two lanes each direction with left and right turn lanes and a center island. It travels mostly through residential neighborhoods, but there are some strip malls occasionally. Also, since the entire length of Rockford Road is a county road and thus managed by the county renaming it shouldn't be that hard. However, Roackford Road does intersect with Douglas Drive and that might get a bit confusing for some people if the name change went through.
Impersonating Tycho from Penny Arcade since before there was a PA.
You digital calculator is wrong. Everyone knows that 6 x 9 = 42. Sheesh.
"But this one goes to 11!"
You'd love Arlington, Virinia then. There's a 19th Street North, 19th Road North, 19th Sreet South, and 19th Road South. Or there's 20th Street North, 20th Place North, and 20th Road North. And the best part is...these names all get used for multiple road segments that aren't connected. Or there's the spot where 20th Rd N runs into a T-intersection with...20th St. N and 21st St. N. That's right, a (small) stretch of road changes name in the middle!
Here's the intersection of 47th Street and 47th Street on the border of Johnson and Wyandotte Counties in Kansas. The road that runs down the county line is called 47th Street by Johnson County municipalities, following the KC, MO street-numbering convention, but the KC, KS scheme runs perpendicular to the adjacent counties, so WYCO calls it County Line Road. So, from this intersection, you can go East, West, or North, and be on 47th Street
[100% ISO 646 Compliant]
SVM, ERGO MONSTRO.
Two guys from the East Coast were trying to decide whether to name the town "Portland" or "Boston," and the Portland (Maine) native won the coin toss. True story!
Ticks me off a bit that when I'm setting my time zone these days that it lists a bunch of cities instead of a nice simple old PST7PDT, and more so that I have to settle for "Los Angeles" instead of "Portland" -- but at least the weather widget for the OS X desktop knows Portland is in Oregon.
P.S. - Apizza Scholls rocks our world, but the roasted veggie plate at Ken's Artisan Pizza is damn fine, too.
"Ain't no right way to do a wrong thing."
Does anyone know if the original radio shows from the 70's are available anywhere? I would love to listen to them again.
Thanks...
The Griffith Observatory has The Cafe at the End of the Universe www.griffithobservatory.org/vcafe.html ...from Thousand Oaks, midway between the observatory and Mr. Adams' last home in Santa Barbara. ...Lorenzo
...Lorenzo / I'm into kinky crustaceans. I just discovered internet praWn.
One can learn the streets of a city, but an intelligent syntax and order are there to help out those who are not so intimately familiar with your city. A good layout a person without a map can establish direction of travel and ever be hopelessly lost, well for the most part. So now all we have to do is to raze all the messy European cities built along those twisting centuries (or millenia) old roads and ways and rebuild them along neat grids.
No reason why it shouldn't work.
May contain traces of nut.
Made from the freshest electrons.
No reason why it shouldn't work.
No one is proposing that Europe tear up their cities and replace them. I can't say that American cities are immune to generalized unplanned quarks of travel.
I am saying that the grid system, as in the first two digits of an address which correspond to house number, the rest the block number, is very handy. Proper, or at least consistent use of the words Avenue, Boulevard, Court, Drive, Road, Lane, Way is also very handy. I'm looking at a map of Liverpool and notice whether a road travels east-west, north-south, or diagonally it's usually named a street.
There is no sanctuary. There is no sanctuary. SHUT UP! There is no shut up. There is no shut up.
May contain traces of nut.
Made from the freshest electrons.
"Except that Torvalds is not a gifted comedic writer, ..."
I agree that Douglas Adams wrote things that were funny. But the fact that someone is taking over the market for inexpensive computers by giving away an operating system he started in his bedroom still causes me to laugh.
Especially GW parkway from the Pentagon to Rosslyn. It is almost impossible to stay on it without accidentally winding up the wrong way going to Great Falls or Washington. But nothing compares to Fairfax county. In Fairfax county, I think the address and street naming system is used as a source of Brownian Motion for the Infinite Improbability Drive.
"Be grateful for what you have. You may never know when you may lose it."