April 2, 2026
Grid vs Vibes: Name Wars
The Joy of Numbered Streets
Portland’s 39th vs Chávez Blvd sparks grid‑vs‑vibes brawl
TLDR: An urbanist urges Portland to swap César E. Chávez Blvd back to 39th Avenue, praising numbered streets for clearer navigation, especially for newcomers. The comments explode into a grid‑vs‑vibes showdown: legibility lovers vs fans of historic character, with a clever “lettered streets, named blocks” compromise gaining traction.
Call it Streetnamegate: an urbanist’s love letter to numbered streets—and proposal to revert Portland’s César E. Chávez Blvd back to “39th Avenue”—lit up the comments with full‑blown Team Numbers vs Team Names energy. Fans of the grid cheered that numbers make cities instantly legible, pointing to Bogotá, Manhattan, and bike‑friendly Portland as proof that coordinates beat confusion. One nostalgic rider practically heard the click of an odometer as they “followed the numbers all the way to zero” at the Willamette River.
But the vibe‑defenders snapped back. A European commenter slammed grids as sterile—“everything appears the same”—arguing that named streets have personality. Another romanticized old‑world maps, saying a 1746 plan of London still works today—great news for time travelers and anyone allergic to monotony. Meanwhile, a Bogotá alum joked that Carreras and Calles sound like chess coordinates, but “cities aren’t chessboards,” so good luck playing Magnus Carlsen with your Uber driver.
The wild card? A Portlander floated a win‑win: do what Northwest Portland did—keep the order (A, B, C…) but use names (Ankeny, Burnside, Couch). It’s the “both ways” cheat code. Amid a fresh renaming push after controversy around a once‑honored figure, the crowd’s split: make cities easier for newcomers—or keep the soulful, storied names people love. Choose your fighter
Key Points
- •The article argues that numbered street systems enhance urban legibility by making locations easier to orient and distances easier to gauge.
- •Bogotá’s calles and carreras provide coordinate-like addresses that help navigation even where local street grids are irregular.
- •Salt Lake City and Manhattan are cited as examples where numbered streets and avenues enable quick distance estimation.
- •Portland’s 39th Avenue was renamed César E. Chávez Blvd in 2009; amid revelations about Chávez’s past, renaming is likely, and the author advocates reverting to 39th.
- •The author contends that naming streets after people is risky due to potential future revelations and that renaming imposes costs and burdens on residents and businesses.