Chicagoist: Block (Number) Party

drdave88

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 09:59:23 -0600

about time! Why did it take so long, i love it!

sealouse

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 14:24:53 -0600

YES, FINALLY!

more_human

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 13:42:13 -0600

well on the south side...South Chicago and The East Side (yes, there IS an EAST SIDE) are starting to have their alley's on the map. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Chicago,+IL&ie=UTF8&ll=41.739649,-87.55537&spn=0.01473,0.027637&z=15 Not that I expect anyone to look on the Far Southeast Side of the google map anyway

dopplerd

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 13:37:24 -0600

I should clarify that Loop blocks are 1/10 of a mile on a side.

smussy

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 13:36:02 -0600

el thirdrail: well, i have to admit a lot of the genius in it is really boosted when you add the weird memorization skills i have. if you are able to assign the numbers to particular streets, not only can you tell if you're going in the right/wrong direction, when i get an address, i can almost immediately tell what cross streets the address is near. people seem to think i'm some sort of wizard, but really i just know most of the cross streets and their respective block numbers. i really groove on what i call the 'squares.' north and ashland. fullerton and western. damen and armitage. chicago and halsted. i love you, grid!

tecki

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 13:19:13 -0600

Interesting to learn that, Dopplerd. Also, some of the blocks are just plain wrong. For instance, I live on the 1700 block, but Google Maps has me on the 1600 block. I'm not from Chicago, but I'm curious: Did your math teachers in grade school teach you how grids work by using the city's system as an example? Seems like a good way to teach it.

dopplerd

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 13:14:12 -0600

It would be great if the numbers were correct. Google assumes that the address numbers go to XX99 on most blocks (there are exceptions but generally speaking). This is wrong for most of Chicago which only has address numbers to XX66. This has been a annoyance of mine in that the geocoding (determining a location from an address) Google Maps does leaves out most of the block. If your address is 4560 N the Google geocoder would only place the dot 60% along the block not very near the north end. Why only go to 66 for each block's addresses? Each Chicago city block in 660 feet long (exactly 1/8th of a mile) and the original addresses were assigned as feet from the intersection.

matty

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:49:27 -0600

lol@puma

El Thirdrail

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:39:43 -0600

Smussy: I'm with you.. I don't understand how people don't get it... it's just like graph paper, like we used in elementary school.

PumaConcolor

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:31:36 -0600

True dat, double true!

matty

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:21:16 -0600

Yeah this helps a lot. Google maps is the best.

smussy

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 11:33:07 -0600

nice! i'm *such* a grid nerd. although, it baffles me how many people don't -get- the grid even after i explain it to them. it seems pretty simple to me, and that's why i love it. yet, it seems to completely be hard for others to grasp. oh well.