Street Names In The Woodlands?

[CreekDweller]

One thing The Woodlands distinguishes itself by is the 'eclectic' names it gives its streets & subdivisions. I appreciate this to an extent and some of them are creative and quite attractive (especially in the older sections like Grogan's Mill) but they seem to have run out of decent ones. The newer the neighborhoods are, the worse the names get and Sterling Ridge seems to be an all new low. I was there the other day and some just bordered on ridiculous (Gallery Cove, Sprite Woods and Korbel Court were among them).

Anyone else feel that way? What are some of the worst (or best) street/neighborhood names that you've seen around town?

[Subdude]

It's not in the Woodlands, but for my money the best street name in Houston is Betty Boop.

[westguy]

Is there an old mill in Grogan's Mill?

[bachanon]

The Villages of Grogan's Mill and Cochran's Crossing are a nod to the Grogan-Cochran Lumber Company that once occupied/owned the property that The Woodlands now sits on (at least the original land purchase for the planned community). Yes, there once was a mill here.

[musicman]

and some just bordered on ridiculous (Gallery Cove, Sprite Woods and Korbel Court were among them).

Anyone else feel that way? What are some of the worst (or best) street/neighborhood names that you've seen around town?

sounds like a bottle of vino to me.

[CDeb]

I was told that Harris County has a regulation that there can be no matching street names anywhere in the county. They must be running out of names! (Yes, I know TW isn't in Harris Co.)

[Pumapayam]

It's not in the Woodlands, but for my money the best street name in Houston is Betty Boop.

Don't forget Chevy Chase!

Is there an old mill in Grogan's Mill?

Sounds like something from the LOTR's

[Houston1stWordOnTheMoon]

I was told that Harris County has a regulation that there can be no matching street names anywhere in the county. They must be running out of names! (Yes, I know TW isn't in Harris Co.)

Surely this is not true...........

[CDeb]

Surely this is not true...........

...as in, you know for sure, or are you just incredulous?

[Original Timmy Chan's]

...as in, you know for sure, or are you just incredulous?

It is true. I believe the reason is for the 911 system...you don't want duplicate street names in different parts of the county when the emergency personnel are looking for your house.

Another trick that's been used in the past is to include several variations of the same name in the same subdivision: Parkside Dr, Parkside Ct, Parkside Blvd, etc.

You can't do that anymore (thankfully).

[CDeb]

It is true. I believe the reason is for the 911 system...you don't want duplicate street names in different parts of the county when the emergency personnel are looking for your house.

Another trick that's been used in the past is to include several variations of the same name in the same subdivision: Parkside Dr, Parkside Ct, Parkside Blvd, etc.

You can't do that anymore (thankfully).

The reason I brought it up is that I have a friend who does civil work for residential developers and they often will name the streets. He says it's getting pretty hard to be original without having silly names.

[Jeebus]

The reason I brought it up is that I have a friend who does civil work for residential developers and they often will name the streets. He says it's getting pretty hard to be original without having silly names.

Perhaps if developers would connect the streets between each neighborhood, and get rid of all those cul-de-sacs, then maybe it wouldn't be as many new streets - thus not as hard to think up new street names.

[CDeb]

Perhaps if developers would connect the streets between each neighborhood, and get rid of all those cul-de-sacs,

Yes, they should stop building what many suburban buyers are looking for. Sounds like a good business plan to me.

[TheNiche]

It is true. I believe the reason is for the 911 system...you don't want duplicate street names in different parts of the county when the emergency personnel are looking for your house.

I hope that their next act along these lines is to mandate that streets cannot abruptly change names at an intersection.

I had to call 911 from Frank's Grill once when a woman sitting across from me at the bar fell over and started having seizures. Trying to explain that I didn't know the address of the restaurant but that it was at the southwest corner of Telephone and Golf-Woodridge, as it was printed on the street sign, and that the name of the cross-street changed at that four-way intersection was apparently so confusing to the person that I was speaking with that the woman having seizures had already been stabilized and was sitting at the bar eating again by the time I hung up.

My hat is off to the waitstaff at Frank's, btw. They handled the situation very professionally and made sure that no tounges were unintentionally swallowed that day.

[tmariar]

I hope that their next act along these lines is to mandate that streets cannot abruptly change names at an intersection.

I think that rule is already in place - just not soon enough to stop it from happening in some places. [The link also includes a rule against duplicate street names in the city.]

Though I suppose I shouldn't comment until I've tried it, I can't imagine it could be that difficult to come up with unique non-silly names. There are just too many very long lists of proper names available for use (foreign cities, people who died in battles or wars, surnames in phone books, women's first names, men's first names, etc.), too many foreign words, too many ways in which common nouns could be combined into two-word names, and too many available suffixes (Ln, Dr., St., Ct., Way, Trail, etc.).

It might be challenging to come up with new names that have some logical connection to the area or work well as a marketing device - but not to come up with unique non-silly names. My guess is that the silly names are purposefully so, and are meant to get attention. Like the neighborhood where all the streets are named for famous racehorses, or the one with all the sports references (Agassi Ace, Graff Net, Lacoste Love, Sampras Ace, etc.).

I personally would rather see silly names in a neighborhood than have every street name be some unimaginative combination of geographical/plant elements that can't be found within miles of the area.

[TheNiche]

I personally would rather see silly names in a neighborhood than have every street name be some unimaginative combination of geographical/plant elements that can't be found within miles of the area.

I wonder when a developer will tap the periodic table for inspiration? I guess Gold, Silver, and Mercury are already taken, at least in Harris County, but it just seems like it'd be a natural fit for a town with so many engineers and chemists.

[Houston1stWordOnTheMoon]

It is true. I believe the reason is for the 911 system...you don't want duplicate street names in different parts of the county when the emergency personnel are looking for your house.

Huh?

The easiest one is Main St.

You will find Main St. in Houston, Galena Park, Pasadena, Spring and South Houston. Someone should notify 911 that some street names are duplicates in different areas of Harris County.

Another off the top of my head is Southmore. Theres a Southmore in both Houston and Pasadena.

[Jeebus]

Huh?

The easiest one is Main St.

You will find Main St. in Houston, Galena Park, Pasadena, Spring and South Houston. Someone should notify 911 that some street names are duplicates in different areas of Harris County.

Another off the top of my head is Southmore. Theres a Southmore in both Houston and Pasadena.

No, you misunderstood. Each municipality can not have repeating street names for the 911 system to work. This is for anywhere in the United States. All of Harris County's unicorporated areas combined are served by one 911 system. All of the municipalities inside Harris County each have their own as well (some are shared I think, like the Villages of I-10, and Bellaire/West University/Southside Place).

[Montrose1100]

It is true. I believe the reason is for the 911 system...you don't want duplicate street names in different parts of the county when the emergency personnel are looking for your house.

Another trick that's been used in the past is to include several variations of the same name in the same subdivision: Parkside Dr, Parkside Ct, Parkside Blvd, etc.

You can't do that anymore (thankfully).

What about Ella Blvd.?

[woody_hawkeye]

What about Ella Blvd.?

There are many streets that are not yet connected, just fragments but part of an area plan. Ella is one of those. The street numbers are not difficult for emergency personnal to manage. EMS personnel have an excellent knowledge of street numbers and ususally have onboard maps for verification. Here in The Woodlands, the folks are well informed. I have never heard of one getting "lost" or confused by the names or numbers.

[Double L]

Well guess what?

In The Woodlands area there is a street of which has been named Lois Lane.

[Original Timmy Chan's]

Huh?

The easiest one is Main St.

You will find Main St. in Houston, Galena Park, Pasadena, Spring and South Houston. Someone should notify 911 that some street names are duplicates in different areas of Harris County.

Another off the top of my head is Southmore. Theres a Southmore in both Houston and Pasadena.

According to tmariar's link, the duplicate name rule only applies to the City of Houston and its ETJ. Since most of the county is in the COH's ETJ, it pretty much applies countywide (with the exception of incorporated municipalities like Pasadena, South Houston, Bellaire, West U, the Villages, etc.)

You are correct, though, that different cities can allow duplicate names within their jurisdictions.

Street Naming Standards

The proposed street name must not be a duplicate name of any existing street name in the City or its extraterritorial jurisdiction. For duplicate street name information, call 713-837-7771 or 713-837-7779.

Existing street names must be used in those instances where a new street is a direct extension of an existing street or logical extension.

Street name suffixes must be assigned as follows:

Court, Circle or Loop are reserved for cul-de-sac or loop streets;

Boulevard, Speedway, Parkway and Expressway are reserved for major thoroughfares or divided streets with at least 2 lanes of traffic in each direction.

Highway and Freeway shall be reserved for designated highways or freeways under the jurisdiction of the Texas Department of Transportation.

Street name prefixes such as North, South, East, and West may be used to clarify the general location of the street. However, such prefixes must be consistent with the existing and established street naming and address numbering system of the general area in which the street is located.

Alphabetical and numerical street names must not be designated except where such street is a direct extension of an existing street and is not a duplicate street name.

The City does not name streets after living people. In addition, the City only allows the use of proper names for national figures, i.e., Martin Luther King Blvd. and Sgt. Macario Garcia Drive.

Major thoroughfares are reserved for national figures.

[tmariar]

I wonder when a developer will tap the periodic table for inspiration? I guess Gold, Silver, and Mercury are already taken, at least in Harris County, but it just seems like it'd be a natural fit for a town with so many engineers and chemists.

I like it! Or names of stars, for that matter. We had planet names out in Clear Lake, which was a good fit because of NASA. And some good Spanish names (El Camino, El Dorado). Then everything there started becoming Brookforest, Glenbrook, Meadowbrook, etc., which just struck me as so lackluster in comparison.

Long live weird street names.

[woody_hawkeye]

Street name suffixes must be assigned as follows:

Court, Circle or Loop are reserved for cul-de-sac or loop streets;

Boulevard, Speedway, Parkway and Expressway are reserved for major thoroughfares or divided streets with at least 2 lanes of traffic in each direction.

Can't help but wonder why there are no rules for a suffix of "place" . They are an " end-street " here in TW. A no-exit street. Can consist of two or more cul-de-sacs.

[Hill Country Native]

Anyone else feel that way? What are some of the worst (or best) street/neighborhood names that you've seen around town?

I hear you. I always get a kick out of the multi-word names that are almost complete sentences. My favorite was S. Crisp Morning Circle in VOAB (One of the last LifeForms neighborhoods, for all you LF fans like me). Ridiculous name -- sounds like a breakfast cereal.

[editor]

I was told that Harris County has a regulation that there can be no matching street names anywhere in the county. They must be running out of names! (Yes, I know TW isn't in Harris Co.)

When I moved to Houston from Cincinnati, I was THRILLED that there were no re-used street names. Cincinnati is notorious for them. You can have Main Street, Main Way, Main Avenue, Main Place, Main Boulevard, Main Cross, Main Terrace, etc... It was maddening.

New York State has a similar problem, but with towns. You can have a City of Wallkill, a Town of Wallkill, a Village of Wallkill, a Hamlet of Wallkill, etc... and half of them will be next to each other and the rest will be hundreds of miles apart.

Maybe the Soviets were onto something with "People's Collective Town Number Nine" and such.

[Vertigo58]

We should have started a Topic on horrible street names that must be changed.

Numero uno for me is:

Rayford Sawdust

Now that sounds about as civilized as Hooterville or Pixley. Could we get any more hillbilly than that? Geeeeez!

Now wonder we never live down the "hick" image yaa'llll. Yeeeaaahaw!

Change it, change it , change it.

[albertnurick]

Best street name in Houston: Seuss Dr. (Off N. Braeswood, just W of Kirby)

Amen about the bizarre street names in TW. In general pretty insipid. I will admit that the name of the street I ended up buying on played a big role in getting me to look at a not-very-well-photographed house; I thought it would be funny to live on Twisted Birch, so I looked.

[bachanon]

i met a guy who says that he sat in with george mitchell and his associates, drinking, and creating street names for the woodlands. this would have been for the original few villages. the later villages and street names were determined, well......later.

[Bubba]

We should have started a Topic on horrible street names that must be changed.

Numero uno for me is:

Rayford Sawdust

Now that sounds about as civilized as Hooterville or Pixley. Could we get any more hillbilly than that? Geeeeez!

Now wonder we never live down the "hick" image yaa'llll. Yeeeaaahaw!

Change it, change it , change it.

Actually, that is two different roads. Heading north on I-45, Rayford Rd. runs to the east from the interstate and Sawdust Rd. to the west. Also, gotta be careful at the intersection of Sawdust & Sawmill.