# US street names, apartmemt block names, types of address



## OurJud (Jun 29, 2013)

As some of you might know, I have - perhaps foolishly for a Brit who's never even been to London, let alone the States - decided to set my short sci-fi story in America.

I'm going for a futuristic, dark and gritty vibe (think Blade Runner sets) and am now at a point where I need to be referring to (perhaps) fictitious street names and addresses. 

Specifically, I need to know how people refer to these run-down apartment blocks, such as the type featured in the film Se7en when Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman first arrive at the killer's premises. Maybe it is simply apartment blocks as I have written here, but I would like confirmation. Also, what would a typical postal address for a place like this be? I need to know this as my MC refers to such a place when reading his police report, as in: _"At such and such a time we received a call from a Mr Whoever at [address of apartment block]"_

Any widely used terms when referring to areas, street names, roads, avenues, etc, would be very much appreciated. As I say, they don't necessarily have to be real, but at least authentic.


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## Kevin (Jun 29, 2013)

here's a full address :

1984 Winstonsmith St,  # 451 (unit # or apartment #)
Springfield, Anystate
                     90210

Assuming it was local, they might say "... he lives in Waterton,  1232 7th Ave., unit 10."

                                                       "You sure about the apartment number?"

                                                        "Yes, I'm looking at it online."


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## OurJud (Jun 29, 2013)

Thanks, Kevin. So the first is an example of an address for one of these run down apartment blocks I describe, but what type of house is the second address an example of?


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## Kevin (Jun 29, 2013)

One's like a formal address, the other is how we might just say it, assuming we need to drive there. As an aside, we never used zip codes except for mailing things ('snail-mail'?) but now everyone is using them to e-search addresses or put in their 'Garmin'-type navigating devices.

Just to clarify, 'unit' would automatically  mean a multiple-unit type of dwelling, as opposed to a 'single family home'(a house) or freestanding structure, on a separately owned property. A house would just have the first number and the street name, with no unit number.


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## Bloggsworth (Jun 29, 2013)

Pick the sort of place you wish to set your story in, open _Google Maps_, type in the name of the town/city. You can then zoom in on a street which will give you a name and any sort of business in that street may have a pop-up with the name and address and _Zip Code_. You can then change to _Street View_ and have a look around to see what kind of neighbourhood it is...


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## OurJud (Jun 29, 2013)

Good thinking, Bloggsworth. 

Although at the risk of sounding like an idiot, given Kevin's replies, I'm still not entirely clear.

If we were to imagine Mr Smith lives in one of these run down apartment blocks, how would the following sentence end?



> "Mr Smith's address is..."


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## Bloggsworth (Jun 29, 2013)

16969 Von Karman Avenue
Irvine, CA 92606


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## patskywriter (Jun 29, 2013)

Many downtown areas use the names of USA presidents, and you can almost always expect to find a "Main Street." Downtown streets are also often named after well-known landmarks (or whatever the town is known for)—the local lake, river, hill, etc. 

You'll see areas in cities and towns where the streets have similar names—for example, streets named after trees (Elm, White Oak, or Maple). You'll also see streets names after flowers, birds, local geology, and native American groups. You can create irony if you have so-called minorities in the rundown neighborhood you're writing about. Because neighborhoods often change over from one race or ethnic group to another as the people move up (and out) to the middle class, you'll notice that the streets and schools will have rather out-of-place European names. So, in older neighborhoods, you'll often have black and Latino kids going to schools named after Einstein, Goethe, etc. In many cases you'll only see streets and schools named after nonwhites if they're newly built. (This can add big-city flavor to your story.)

In the city, the addresses will have mostly Streets; the larger crosstown (2 or more lanes) streets will often be called Avenues; and Boulevard is reserved for grander streets that have multiple lanes divided by greenery in the middle. (You'll find Roads in cities, but you'll see more of them in rural areas.)


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## Kevin (Jun 29, 2013)

Bloggsworth said:


> 16969 Von Karman Avenue
> Irvine, CA 92606


 If it's an apartment building you'd also give the room number.


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## Kevin (Jun 29, 2013)

http://www.pewhispanic.org/2012/09/...st-metropolitan-areas-by-hispanic-population/


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## Lewdog (Jun 29, 2013)

Bad areas of town are often called the ghetto.  Lots of street names are also called by state names.  Usually if you have a specific city in the U.S. in mind, there is a famous street in all the big cities which could help you out a lot.  For example in San Fran you have Lombard Street, in Chicago you have Michigan Avenue, etc.

Oh I forgot, in the U.S. we call poor apartment building areas, 'The Projects.'


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## FleshEater (Jun 29, 2013)

Lewdog is right. Ghetto is an area in a city. The building you're referring to is called, "the projects." 

Now, what you probably don't know, is that any cop working that area is going to have a foul, rascist mouth, whether black or white. They're going to be hard as nails. Also, you probably won't find a cop that bothers with the ghetto or projects after dark. Any man blundering on foot through there by himself at night would probably not find his way out...unless he's carrying a concealed pistol. 

I have been to some of the ugliest parts of Philadelphia after dark and must say, it's terrifying. You don't stop and you don't look at people. The same can be said for Wilkinsburg PA. Awful place.


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## moderan (Jun 29, 2013)

Try the west side of Chicago after a Hawks game in the seventies. Or south of the U of C, anytime day or night, now. Two of the few places where anyone of any color is guaranteed to be hassled, at the very least.
I think the episodes of color-based violence are overstated, but there's certainly menace in the situation. My cab broke down on a ramp off the Dan Ryan and 127th one night. I locked myself in and turned off the lights. There was gunfire in the street parallel to the highway, above me, as I sat.


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## Lewdog (Jun 29, 2013)

moderan said:


> Try the west side of Chicago after a Hawks game in the seventies. Or south of the U of C, anytime day or night, now. Two of the few places where anyone of any color is guaranteed to be hassled, at the very least.
> I think the episodes of color-based violence are overstated, but there's certainly menace in the situation. My cab broke down on a ramp off the Dan Ryan and 127th one night. I locked myself in and turned off the lights. There was gunfire in the street parallel to the highway, above me, as I sat.



Me and some friends went to a Bulls game at the United Center back when it was fairly new.  I couldn't believe they built such a nice place right across the street from some project buildings right dead middle of the worst part of town.  I'm guessing the land was cheaper, and they were looking to help rebuild the area...but damn were we nervous standing outside waiting for a cab after the game.


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## patskywriter (Jun 29, 2013)

Don't overdo the "danger" factor when writing about the so-called ghetto. Poor people don't automatically = killers and thieves. A stranger is just as likely to be helped as harmed in a low-income neighborhood. Don't be too quick to describe whole communities as good or bad. A writer who _only_ writes about crime, drugs, and other societal ills in a community while ignoring the beauty and wonderful people to be found there would be seeing only half the picture. 

Not all buildings in low-income areas are "projects," which are government-owned, public housing buildings. Rundown apartment buildings are often called tenements.


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## Lewdog (Jun 29, 2013)

Let me add a couple of things.  This subject is actually pretty complex to outsiders.  First off the ghetto areas can also be reformed to as 'the slums,' and the owners that rent the places are called 'slum lords.'  Secondly in the U.S. we don't really use the word 'flats.'  They are usually one of three things:

Condo (short for condominium) - 





> A *condominium, or condo, is the form of housing tenure and other real property where a specified part of a piece of real estate (usually of an apartment house) is individually owned, while use of and access to common facilities in the piece such as hallways, heating system, elevators, exterior areas is executed under legal rights associated with the individual ownership and controlled by the association of owners that jointly represent ownership of the whole piece*



Condominium - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Townhouse - 





> A *townhouse, or town house, is a type of medium-density housing in cities, usually but not necessarily terraced (row housing) or semi-detached. A modern town house is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors*



Townhouse - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Apartment - 





> An *apartment (in American English) or flat in British English is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies only part of a building.*



Apartment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The numbering of these places can be numbers, letters, or a combination of both.  First floor only buildings tend to be a number or a letter.  In buildings with multiple floors, The number will tell you the floor it's on, and the letter tells you the specific apartment.  For example apartment '4B' would be on the fourth floor apartment number 'B.'

I'm not sure how specific you want to be in your story but there are a lot of other details as well.  If your story goes out into rural areas at all, you might need to use the word:

Subdivision - 





> *Subdivision is the act of dividing land into pieces that are easier to sell or otherwise develop, usually via a plat. The former single piece as a whole is then known in the United States as a subdivision. If it is used for housing it is typically known as a housing subdivision or housing development, although some developers tend to call these areas communities. *



Subdivision (land) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Now on street names, not only do you have names like First Street, Main Street, Central Ave., Etc., but in cities you'll also have East/West/North/South attached to them as well.  For example if First Street crosses Main Street going East to West, the part of the road on the East side of Main Street will be called East First Street, and the other side West First Street.  You should also know that State, and National Highways are numbered in a certain way.  All highways going North and South are odd numbers, and those going East to West are even numbers.  The low numbered even highways start in the southern most U.S. and as the work their way North continue to get larger.  The odd numbered highways start in the low numbers to the West, and grow larger as they are further East.  Then you also have bypasses and other roads.  

If there is any other info you need just bring this thread up again and I'm sure someone can help you out, or just shoot me a message and I will.

:hi:


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## patskywriter (Jun 30, 2013)

Lewdog said:


> Let me add a couple of things.  This subject is actually pretty complex to outsiders.  First off the ghetto areas can also be reformed to as 'the slums,' and the owners that rent the places are called 'slum lords.' …



I'm tickled by your use of the word "outsider."    Depending on the author, the term "slums" can be taken as derogatory. People who rent apartments in these areas are not all slumlords—only certain types of landlords can be called that. Slumlords are the *bad* ones. I used to be a landlord in a low-income neighborhood. My apartments were nicely decorated, clean, and tidy—in fact, most of the property owners on my block kept their properties up to a high standard. But "outsiders" and members of the media who usually came into the neighborhood to cover stories that fed into typical stereotypes chose to call my neighborhood a slum. That's what led me to start my own newspaper.


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## Lewdog (Jun 30, 2013)

patskywriter said:


> I'm tickled by your use of the word "outsider."    Depending on the author, the term "slums" can be taken as derogatory. People who rent apartments in these areas are not all slumlords—only certain types of landlords can be called that. Slumlords are the *bad* ones. I used to be a landlord in a low-income neighborhood. My apartments were nicely decorated, clean, and tidy—in fact, most of the property owners on my block kept their properties up to a high standard. But "outsiders" and members of the media who usually came into the neighborhood to cover stories that fed into typical stereotypes chose to call my neighborhood a slum. That's what led me to start my own newspaper.



I didn't mean that as derogatory to everyone in those areas, obviously there are always going to be exceptions to the rule.  I was just covering what the OP asked, and that is the run down bad areas.  Some areas that are considered 'the slums' now, were at some point houses owned by the wealthier people in the city, and are actually architecturally beautiful, just not cared for.  Over-the-Rhine in Cincinnati, and some of the areas of Dayton, Ohio are exactly like this.


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## moderan (Jun 30, 2013)

My _condo _is a _townhouse_. I live a mile or so from the _barrio_. The people there are known as "_poco loco_". Their homes often have swamp coolers. Many of them are not of Hispanic origin-having been imported from various states in north Africa via several refugee placement programs.
The barrio, despite the volume level, does not seem as menacing as the West Side or the far Sout'Side, where such luminaries as Jeff Fort and Huey Newton created followings. Tagging is prevalent. Shootings are not entirely unknown, but usually don't involve bystanders. Break-ins are more common than drive-bys. More genteel, I suppose.
I still don't allow my wife to walk to the Circle K after dark, by herself. Vatos strung on meth don't often make fine distinctions as far as targets.
More on-topic...addresses in the US can change from place to place, depending generally on whether the town is built on the grid system. And often neighborhoods have separate placenames that denizens identify with. I grew up Back of the Yards and moved to West Elsdon. My friend Dave lives in Jefferson Park. If you lived in that city, you'd know where those places were and have some idea of the economic stratum because of the location.


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## Lewdog (Jun 30, 2013)

moderan said:


> My _condo _is a _townhouse_. I live a mile or so from the _barrio_. The people there are known as "_poco loco_". Their homes often have swamp coolers. Many of them are not of Hispanic origin-having been imported from various states in north Africa via several refugee placement programs.
> The barrio, despite the volume level, does not seem as menacing as the West Side or the far Sout'Side, where such luminaries as Jeff Fort and Huey Newton created followings. Tagging is prevalent. Shootings are not entirely unknown, but usually don't involve bystanders. Break-ins are more common than drive-bys. More genteel, I suppose.
> I still don't allow my wife to walk to the Circle K after dark, by herself. Vatos strung on meth don't often make fine distinctions as far as targets.
> More on-topic...addresses in the US can change from place to place, depending generally on whether the town is built on the grid system. And often neighborhoods have separate placenames that denizens identify with. I grew up Back of the Yards and moved to West Elsdon. My friend Dave lives in Jefferson Park. If you lived in that city, you'd know where those places were and have some idea of the economic stratum because of the location.



Yeah that reminded me of something I forgot earlier.  For the OP to get the right answer we really need to know what state or area they plan on using.  Let's say they choose New Orleans, their system is totally different than other places because they use the French system of parishes.


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## philistine (Jun 30, 2013)

Bloggsworth said:


> Pick the sort of place you wish to set your story in, open _Google Maps_, type in the name of the town/city. You can then zoom in on a street which will give you a name and any sort of business in that street may have a pop-up with the name and address and _Zip Code_. You can then change to _Street View_ and have a look around to see what kind of neighbourhood it is...



I've done this before, though normally just fabricate street names entirely, as they're not that important to my work.


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## shadowwalker (Jun 30, 2013)

I believe particular housing projects had specific names also. Forgive my memory lapse, but I believe there was one that notorious in Chicago, and it was known by its specific name, rather than just 'the projects'. (This was back in the early 70s)  In that case, it was basically taken over by the gangs and wannabe's, and nobody would go near it. But everyone knew the difference between "name" and the other projects.


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## patskywriter (Jun 30, 2013)

shadowwalker said:


> I believe particular housing projects had specific names also. Forgive my memory lapse, but I believe there was one that notorious in Chicago, and it was known by its specific name, rather than just 'the projects'. (This was back in the early 70s)  In that case, it was basically taken over by the gangs and wannabe's, and nobody would go near it. But everyone knew the difference between "name" and the other projects.



_Cabrini-Green_. My brother-in-law would laugh when reading about how horrible Cabrini was, saying that the hallways were filled with all kinds of white folks/social workers who provided services to the people there. Sure, Cabrini and the other highrise "projects" had terrible crime, gangs, lowlifes, etc, but Cabrini was actually maligned in the press at every turn and made out to be the worst of the worst because of its location. Most other projects are located in low-income areas. Cabrini-Green was built for Italians and it was weirdly located on the "Gold Coast," now an extremely up-market area with mansions, snazzy apartments, clubs, swank shops, and fancy cars—*and* it's right on the lakefront. A highrise public-housing complex couldn't be more out of place and developers eyed that property for years before it was finally torn down and repurposed. 

If you're going to write about highrise projects, don't make the assumption that they were always bad. Their history mirrors that of the favelas in Rio de Janeiro—they started out as places where neighbor helped neighbor, but got exponentially worse when drugs-as-lifestyle-and-business entered the picture.


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## OurJud (Jun 30, 2013)

Wow! Plenty of juicy stuff here, and all of it useful. As daft as it sounds I do have to keep reminding myself that this story is set quite a way in the future. I don't have an exact date in mind, but even though I'm not talking about thousand of years, I'd guess it wouldn't fall within the 'near-future' band.

This means there's plenty of scope for things to have changed quite dramatically, although I'm guessing street names and the general terminology for these places won't have changed quite as much as the landscape itself.


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## patskywriter (Jun 30, 2013)

OurJud said:


> Wow! Plenty of juicy stuff here, and all of it useful. As daft as it sounds I do have to keep reminding myself that this story is set quite a way in the future. I don't have an exact date in mind, but even though I'm not talking about thousand of years, I'd guess it wouldn't fall within the 'near-future' band.
> 
> This means there's plenty of scope for things to have changed quite dramatically, although I'm guessing street names and the general terminology for these places won't have changed quite as much as the landscape itself.



I always enjoy tales of the future more when I get the sense that the author has his footing in reality and understands the history of a place.


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## OurJud (Jun 30, 2013)

Me too, pat. I work best in grit and authenticity, and simply don't have the skill, or even the desire, to set something in outer-space, for instance.

Oddly, I enjoy a lot of outer-space sci-fi when it comes to films. I just don't read or write it.


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## FleshEater (Jun 30, 2013)

If this is based in the future, I only see things becoming worse in America, not better. I'd say the writers of _Looper_ agree with that idea as well. 

Patskywriter, you're clearly very emotionally connected to these places and find a great deal of sympathy with the communities unfortunately plagued with the bad publicity. However, for the sake of fiction, everyone wants it worse than what it actually is. That makes a great story. Hence why Cabrini-Green was handled as such in the _Candyman_ story. 

I don't want to read about the loving nature of a community that's given a bad name due to its looks or location. I want danger and fear--suspense.


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## OurJud (Jun 30, 2013)

FleshEater said:


> If this is based in the future, I only see things becoming worse in America, not better. I'd say the writers of _Looper_ agree with that idea as well.



Ooh, I have that on my shelf waiting to be watched. Only bought it yesterday.


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## patskywriter (Jun 30, 2013)

FleshEater said:


> … I don't want to read about the loving nature of a community that's given a bad name due to its looks or location. I want danger and fear--suspense.



Of course you do—that always makes for a better, or at least more commercial, story. But we are more than our work (at least I hope so), so I still think it's a good idea that you at least know what you're talking about. You can know about something and hold back that information. But, hopefully, that knowledge would help inform the actions and thoughts of your characters. That way, the author will seem to have a bit of an inside track and not come off as ignorant and ill-informed. I could easily write a crime story about my old neighborhood, but it would probably have more heart and authenticity than a story written by an author relying on simplistic stereotypes and just trotting out another "urban jungle" story.


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## OurJud (Jun 30, 2013)

Can I just stress that it is not my intention to purposely stereotype any groups or types I may be including in my story. I feel I may have already done that (unintentionally) with my angry Hispanic woman. I just wanted to get a feel for the terminology used for the housing and other accommodations in the poorer areas of the US.


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## philistine (Jun 30, 2013)

patskywriter said:


> If you're going to write about highrise projects, don't make the assumption that they were always bad. Their history mirrors that of the favelas in Rio de Janeiro—*they started out as places where neighbor helped neighbor, but got exponentially worse when drugs-as-lifestyle-and-business entered the picture.*



This seems to be a common story. It happened to the _Corbusierian_ blocks of flats they built across England in the late 1950s/early 1960s. I was very surprised to see how they were mostly populated by the elderly and retired, that they had small shops built into them, and that it was quite a Xanadu-esque community free of crime and all the rest. That changed massively in the subsequent decades when they became the target of the aforementioned drug peddling, criminal relocation sites, etc. They all went to hell, and many of the original projects have been torn down in the past decade.


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## patskywriter (Jun 30, 2013)

You've probably got enough to go on, then. Off you go—and write a great story!  :read:


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## OurJud (Jun 30, 2013)

patskywriter said:


> You've probably got enough to go on, then. Off you go—and write a great story!  :read:



Well I'll certainly be trying to make it great, put it that way.


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