Talk:House numbering

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This could end up being a very fascinating article - you just don't find info like this anywhere else!

I have made some additions, and also removed this line: This doesn't make sense, as the side of the street would depend on which way you were facing. Also, it isn't clear whether this relates to Australia specifically (as it is just after the Australia paragraph) or all house numbering in general. -- Chuq 01:11, 5 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] North America

Could someone please explain, more clearly, the system of numbering based on the distance from a meridian? Dainamo 13:47, 23 Mar 2005 (UTC)

I dunno. Speaking as an USian, it is unintelligible to me. older≠wiser 00:32, Mar 24, 2005 (UTC)
My apologies for not being clearer. What I mean is that, for example, a city might divide itself into four quadrants, perhaps with the north-south and east-west division lines running through the town square. An address of 500 Oak Street N.E. might be 500 meters or five blocks east of the north-south meridian. This particular system is used in Washington, DC, with the meridians meeting in the Capitol rotunda. For a jurisdiction with static boundaries, like a county, planners might use edges of the jurisdiction as the starting points for addressing. If you can think of a better way to explain this, please edit away. -- Mwalcoff 20:39, 24 Mar 2005 (UTC)
Perhaps the confusion is due to the use of the term meridian, which has a very specific geographical meaning that seems to be used somewhat loosely here. If I understand what you mean, I think it is simply a Cartesian coordinate system, in which the house numbers grow larger as you move farther from the origin. older≠wiser 01:27, Mar 25, 2005 (UTC)
My mistake, I guess. What is the correct term, then? "Baseline?" "Axis?" -- Mwalcoff 12:57, 25 Mar 2005 (UTC)
I have seen an odd "baseline" system in rural parts of the Midwest. Someone's address might be: 485W 350N Placeville, IA 52999 (for example.) As I understand it, this means the house is 4.85 miles west and 3.5 miles north of town hall, the center of the county, or some other landmark. The street would be known as 350N, meaning any point on the street is 3.5 miles north of said landmark. (Roads in the Midwest tend to be straight.) I know this system is in use around Valparaiso, Indiana. I think it's also found in parts of Iowa and Nebraska, among other locations. 66.212.135.123 19:26, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

Sometimes odd numbers are on the left, sometimes they are on the right; there does not appear to be any pattern.The writer forgot to include "when facing in the direction that the numbers increase". In some cities with grids alligned with NSEW the odd/even rule may be related to compass direction. In areas where the rules are applied consistantly, knowing them can save time getting to an address.

[edit] UK House names

After moving to the UK, I found that hose numbering isn't widely used. Instead, buildings are often referred to by street name and, sometimes, house name. Can anyone include the reasons for this in the article? --144.173.52.249 01:32, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

I'm not sure where you're living, but house numbers are widely used throughout the UK. Buildings might casually be referred to by street name, but only the most important buildings could have an address without a number. The exception is that in some rural areas, houses have never been numbered, and are instead referred to by name. Warofdreams talk 03:24, 16 October 2006 (UTC)
There is some truth with many in-town businesses, especially stores who do not always give the number they are at along a main shopping street. eg: XYZ Clothing, High Street, Trumpton. This can be annoying in large towns. Even when a number is given, there are not always numbers displayed on other businesses making it hard to work out which direction one should be walking or driving to find the damn place. Dainamo

[edit] Europe

Can I suggest an area for expansion. I cannot quote references for this, but somebody might like to follow it up.

In Europe the system of house numbering was initiated by Napolean in the lands he conquered, along with many other standardisations such as the metric system. Previous to Napolean houses were mostly named. According to the Napoleonic system, numbering starts at the end of a street nearest the centre of a town, with odd numbers (1,3,...) on the left, and even numbers (2,4,...) on the right.

NOTE: This is not the way you state in the article, please examine a few British streets.

This origin explains why in Britain this system was not adopted for a long time. The traditional British system was to number up one side and back down the other. The Napoleonic system has the advantage that as towns grow, additional number can be added, with the old British system this is not possible. Many older towns in Britain still retain the old system in the centre (e.g. London and the example you quote for Downing Street), but use the new system for streets built after the beginning of the 20th century. There are some examples where the older end of a street is numbered with the old system, but the newer end, containing houses built after the First World war is numbered with the new system. (P.S., I grew up in a town with such streets.)

TiffaF 08:09, 18 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Portugal

In Portugal (at least Lisbon) many houses have several numbers. AFAICT, each groundfloor window, i.e. anything that can potentially become a door, has its own number. Does anybody know more? Zocky 18:27, 18 Apr 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Color addresses with ASCII address labels

Explain what the six series stuff is. Say how one is to write the colored addresses with black and white ASCII. Mention Salt Lake City street names... Mention Edmonton AB centered at 101 St. and 101 Av. Wish it was 250 & 750...

Chinese road # lane # alley # addresses are smart: http://jidann.org/geo/house_numbering/taiwan_english_addresses.html --jidanni

[edit] Much ado about simple sequences

In much of North America, buildings are not numbered according to a simple sequence but rather according to distance from a given baseline.

Isn't that as a "simple sequence," albeit with big numbers? In my county Rockland County, New York (NYC metro area), and surrounding areas, house numbering seems to follow the European system, so I have a bit of an issue as to how much "much of North America" is. -HiFiGuy 07:48, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

The difference between the "simple sequence" and the "American system" is that the "simple sequence" goes 1, 3, 5, 7, while the "American system" might go 100, 230, 380, 520... depending on how far the buildings are away from each other. Or it might go 100, 102, 104... but then jump to 200 at the first cross street. In my experience, the "American system" is used just about everywhere outside of the Northeast. Even in Manhattan, the east-west streets go up 100 for every numbered avenue. -- Mwalcoff 17:24, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Utility pole numbering

In Quebec, telephone or hydro poles have a number marked on them that is related to building addresses. This might be worth mentioning in a section called 'Related'

I hereby call upon Wikipedeans to rise from their computers and check out their local utility poles! Pendragon39 15:46, 2 June 2006 (UTC)
This also occurs in Melbourne, tho sometimes they have an independent numbering system. Just something I’ve noticed, I’ve never bothered to work out any rhyme or reason. (Probably depends on whatever council it’s in.) —Felix the Cassowary 09:39, 23 August 2006 (UTC)
Darn I wish I could remember where I read an essay about using utility boxes to navigate in Taiwan. —Tamfang 22:52, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Famous block

What is so special about the 1600s block on Pennsylvania Ave, and why does the assertion that it’s ‘probably the most famous block number in the world’ need to be on this article, without actually saying anything about it? —Felix the Cassowary 09:39, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

The White House is at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W. You're right; it's not a very good sentence. -- Mwalcoff 22:31, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] San Francisco

Large groups of streets have increasing numbers in the same direction -- increasing from the Bay, from Market Street, from the Presidio, etc. Masonic and Broderick are in the area of transition between a Market Street Group, and a Presedio group.

[edit] Authority

Who assigns house numbers in the various countries of the world? -- Beland 20:28, 5 July 2007 (UTC)

There are lots of countries! But this is normally the responsibility of the local government authority, e.g. the highways department of the town council.--Shantavira|feed me 12:36, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
I'm pretty sure the Postal Service (USPS) assigns house numbers in the US. 66.212.135.123 19:32, 2 October 2007 (UTC)
In my experience, house numbers have been set by the local (municipal or county) planning authority. -- Mwalcoff 01:30, 3 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Latin America

"In Latin America the addressing system is quite similar to the one used in United States and rest of the world." This comment makes no sense, given that the United States uses a very different system from Europe (which is part of the rest of the world). 81.154.49.23 (talk) 19:54, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

Plenty of places in the U.S. do use a system very similar to Europe; that said, there is no "one" system used in the United States. Powers T 14:20, 29 January 2008 (UTC)