Alright, quotes from clueless Brooklynites about how you'd expect 3" of rain in an hour "in Kansas, but this is Brooklyn!" (what, you think the city limits protect you from weather, as well as the real world?) aside...
Yeah, Manhattan is a snap. 1) It's (mostly) a grid. 2) Once you realize it's angled about 40deg from true N/S, you compensate for sun position pretty automatically. 3) It has HUGE FREAKING LANDMARKS (Central Park, anyone?) that are kind of hard to miss. 4) It's an island - you have a discrete boundary.
It took me about 3 or 4 trips down there to feel comfy with mid-Central-Park south to just north of Wall St (which is most of the S end of Manhattan), and that's the area that's distinctly non-grid-like. Anywhere north of well, Houston, is a grid with only a couple of exceptions, like Broadway. South of there, it's just a couple of grids aligned with the waterfronts, and the only odd areas are where they run into one another, kind of like downtown Seattle's grid hitting up against Denny.
But people who *live there* can't figure this out? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot??
That's okay, I can't figure out people who get lost in Seattle either, for many of the same reasons listed above.
Ayup. And two mountain ranges. And one downtown. And recognizable bodies of water. And, and, and, and...
I think the only city I've found easier to navigate (short of the downtown/Denny boundary) is Salt Lake City. It's *one grid*, and surrounded by peaks, with a lake. It's basically just one unified coordinate system, and addresses frequently skip street names altogether. I lived at 1215 McClelland, but I usually told people 1215 S 1200 E, since McClelland was one block west of 1300E.
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(no subject)
Date: 2007-08-08 05:41 pm (UTC)It took me about 3 or 4 trips down there to feel comfy with mid-Central-Park south to just north of Wall St (which is most of the S end of Manhattan), and that's the area that's distinctly non-grid-like. Anywhere north of well, Houston, is a grid with only a couple of exceptions, like Broadway. South of there, it's just a couple of grids aligned with the waterfronts, and the only odd areas are where they run into one another, kind of like downtown Seattle's grid hitting up against Denny.
But people who *live there* can't figure this out? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot??
That's okay, I can't figure out people who get lost in Seattle either, for many of the same reasons listed above.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-08-08 05:46 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-08-08 05:57 pm (UTC)I think the only city I've found easier to navigate (short of the downtown/Denny boundary) is Salt Lake City. It's *one grid*, and surrounded by peaks, with a lake. It's basically just one unified coordinate system, and addresses frequently skip street names altogether. I lived at 1215 McClelland, but I usually told people 1215 S 1200 E, since McClelland was one block west of 1300E.