What determines whether a street in Detroit is a Ave. or Blvd. or Rd. or St.?

[carlscomputers]

In Detroit, it seems that the usual definitition of thoroughfares don't always apply when it comes to naming our streets?
What determines a road, avenue, street, boulevard, etc. when it comes to Detroit streets?

[1953]

As I have understood it, a street is a street, an avenue is a tree lined street, and a boulevard is a street with a tree lined park down the middle. I do imagine that municipalities [[and developers) have a great deal of latitude in applying these and related conventions, as most are only conventions, not law.

1953

[mwilbert]

I don't think you can count on any reliable meaning.

However, you might find this interesting:
https://detroitography.com/2013/10/2...et-in-detroit/

[401don]

Something I've never wondered about, and still haven't.

[carlscomputers]

Thanks!

[carlscomputers]

I don't think you can count on any reliable meaning.

However, you might find this interesting:
https://detroitography.com/2013/10/2...et-in-detroit/

Thanks!

[casscorridor]

Detroit street signs [[mostly) lack street suffixes, so it's kind of moot point. Always been a pet peeve of mine, but what can ya do?

I wonder, are there streets where residents unknowingly use the incorrect suffix? They think they live on a street but it's actually an avenue.

Not that it would matter, as I doubt the post office cares. The mail will arrive either way.

In which case, why even have suffixes at all? Just top calling it Woodward Avenue. It's just Woodward.

[Zacha341]

I like major streets to have the suffix. Woodward Ave will always be that for me......

[401don]

I like major streets to have the suffix. Woodward Ave will always be that for me......

And the name Boulevard just exudes class - except when you line them with red monkey bars. What were they ever thinking?

[1953]

Boulevards being wider, divided streets, they are called forth by more intensive use, as in larger or grander buildings. That could be where the positive association [[sans monkey bars) comes from.

1953

[1953]

I would add that road likely has a similar tendency - you are more likely to live on a road if your home is on a street associated with a larger average lot size.

1953

[expatriate]

Boulevard to me does imply a more commercial upscale street as in Washington Blvd. although I suppose it could be argued that Outer Drive and others are as well. Avenues are in the same category, but without the center median, like Fifth Avenue. Perhaps just being wide makes them an avenue, like Michigan, Gratiot, and Grand River, although I have no idea if that is official. People often refer to Lakeshore in Grosse Pointe as a "drive", but it is officially a "road". I notice the Post Office likes to append a suffix to delivery addresses when ordering things online.
The newer designation I like is a "stoad" which refers to a usually suburban arterial with fast moving traffic that attempts to be a street and a road at the same time and fails miserably at both.

[jcole]

If a Boulevard has the median down the center then almost all streets that require Michigan lefts should be called Boulevard.

[Jimaz]

Is the class of thoroughfare even necessary? What thoroughfares in Detroit would be ambiguous without specifying class? I wouldn't be surprised if there were some. Delivery and taxi drivers would likely know.

It would make a good trivia question.

[Gsgeorge]

I wonder, are there streets where residents unknowingly use the incorrect suffix? They think they live on a street but it's actually an avenue.

Not that it would matter, as I doubt the post office cares. The mail will arrive either way.

I do a lot of mapping on Open Street Map and I can say for sure there are many, many minor and some major roads that I have come across in metro Detroit that have different suffixes on the physical road signs, and in the official Michigan property records of street addresses. I have come across many roads that have different suffixes on their street signs at different intersections, and many even have a totally different suffix in the property record than is on the sign.

There is an odd stretch of 14 Mile Road just west of Woodward along the Birmingham/Royal Oak border between Woodward and Pierce, where the property records indicate the addresses along the north side of 14 Mile [[in Birmingham) are on "East 14 Mile Road" and the properties along the south side of 14 Mile [[in RO) are on "West 14 Mile Road". Meanwhile, the street signs in Birmingham indicate "E 14 Mile Rd", and the street signs in Royal Oak alternate from "E Fourteen Mile Road" to "West Fourteen Mile Road" for the same stretch of road. Google Maps and other mappers will actually give this stretch of 14 Mile two alternating names between Pierce and Woodward because of this distinction. So neither city can keep it straight. Another mapper and I even planned to ask the post office what was going on because we couldn't figure out what name to use for this stretch of addresses along 14 Mile Road.

There are no hard-and-fast rules for street suffix designation. In past history the terms were adhered to more strictly, but these days developers are usually the ones naming roads in residential subdivisions, leading to a patchwork of different suffixes with no consistency. "Drives" have particularly taken over in sprawling suburbia, with fewer "Streets" than can be found in urban areas. Urban and denser areas tend to leave street suffixes off their signs, while suburban areas are more prone to include them.

[carlscomputers]

There are no hard-and-fast rules for street suffix designation. In past history the terms were adhered to more strictly, but these days developers are usually the ones naming roads in residential subdivisions, leading to a patchwork of different suffixes with no consistency. "Drives" have particularly taken over in sprawling suburbia, with fewer "Streets" than can be found in urban areas. Urban and denser areas tend to leave street suffixes off their signs, while suburban areas are more prone to include them.

Thanks!