Utah street names...

Utah street names...  One of the things that took some getting used to here is the street names.  Well, really, the lack of street names!  Very few streets here actually have names at all.  Instead, they're numbered in a uniform system, and sometimes have an additional highway name. 

For instance, our property here is bordered by two roads, each running north/south.  On the east side of our property, the road is mainly known by it's highway name: State 165.  That road is also known as “200 West”, which means it's 2 blocks west of Main Street in Paradise.  Every town has a Main Street and a Center Street, laid out at 90° to each other (forming a cross).  Their intersection is the zero/zero point of a coordinate system that names all other roads in that town.  The road on the west side of our property is “400 West” – which is, of course, 4 blocks west of Main Street in Paradise. 

While all this was confusing at first, now that we've figured it out we're finding it to be very convenient.  If someone gives us an address, we immediately know where it is.  We don't need a map.  There are only a dozen or so towns in all of Cache Valley, and we've learned where all of them are.  If someone gives us an address like, say, “435 N 500 E, Providence” – then we know exactly where that is and how to get there without needing a map at all.  Good trick!

There's a more detailed explanation of the system here...