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The convention also works similarly in Arlington. North-South streets ascend alphabetically from the Potomac, starting with one-syllable names: Bell, Clark, Dale, Eads, etc.; then two syllables: Adams, Barton, Cleveland, etc.; then three syllables: Abingdon, Buchanan, Columbus, ending at Yucatan near the border with Falls Church.
East-West streets are numbers, with Arlington Blvd. (Rte 50), serving as the midpoint. So 1st Street North is one block north of 50 and 1st St. S. is one block south, etc.
Sometimes the numbers are repeated thus: 9th St. 9th Place, 9th Road. Also, sometimes several streets in a row start with the same letter--Madison, Montana, Manchester--before moving on to the next letter, in this case, Nottingham.

Much of Arlington is not a perpendicular grid, and so some streets change names as they wind around and many are also discontinuous.

There are also significant exceptions all over the place, but they are generally not called "Streets:" Washington and Wilson and Clarendon Boulevards, Columbia Pike, Lee Highway, George Mason Drive and Glebe Road being prime examples.

I find this makes it both hard and easy to find things. It's often easy to get relatively close to where you are going, but sometimes it's hard to get there exactly.

by Steve O on Aug 7, 2009 1:22 pm • link • report