Who designed the numbering system on the street signs in Las Vegas, and why are they backwards from the way they are in any other city in the country or probably the world?
What I mean is, if you were driving east anywhere else in the country on a street called Flamingo Road and you first wanted to know how far south Flamingo Road is, you would look to your right to the Flamingo Road sign and it would say 4100, and you would know it's 4100 South. Then, as you continued driving east and you approached a street named Paradise Road and you wondered how far east Paradise is, you would just look up at the Paradise Road sign in front of you and it would say 400 and you would know Paradise is 400 East. The same is true as you approached University Center and the sign in front of you would say 700 and you would know it's 700 East. And Maryland Parkway's sign would tell you it's 1100 East and Spencer's sign would tell you it's 1700 East, and Eastern's sign would tell you it's 2300 East, and on and on.
That's anywhere else in the country. But you're driving east on a street named Flamingo Road in Las Vegas and as you approach the Paradise Road sign, you see it says 4100. And the University Center sign says 4100, as does the Maryland Parkway sign and the Spencer sign and the Eastern sign, and on and on. Wait a minute, they can't all be 4100. Oh yeah, 4100 is how far south Flamingo is.
So what's on the Flamingo sign? Let's see. As you approach Paradise and want to know how far east it is, you have to look to your right over other cars and trucks and buses to see the Flamingo sign that says 400. Same for the Flamingo sign at University Center that says 700 on it and the Flamingo sign at Maryland Parkway that says 1100 on it. You get the picture.
So who designed this a**-backwards sign-numbering system and who agreed that it's a good idea and let it remain all these years? Are you aware that it's backwards from anywhere else and backwards from what's logical? Are Las Vegas residents aware of this? Or am I the only one who has noticed this?
Well, unless we're missing something in your explanation, could it be that you're only one who's noticed it because it isn't wrong?
Looking at Google Maps' street view, here's what we see. At the intersection of Flamingo and Paradise the signs are:
E. Flamingo Rd., 300 on the west side
E. Flamingo Rd., 400 on the east side
S. Paradise Rd., 4000 on the north side
S. Paradise Rd., 4100 on the south side
The numbers indicate the adjacent block.
At the intersection of Flamingo and University Center Drive the signs are:
E Flamingo Rd., 700 on the west side
E Flamingo Rd., 800 on the east side
S University Center Dr., 4000 on the north side
S University Center Dr., 4100 on the south side
And at the intersection of Flamingo and Maryland Parkway the signs show:
E Flamingo Rd., 1100 on the west side
E Flamingo Rd., 1200 on the east side
S Maryland Pkwy., 4000 on the north side
S Maryland Pkwy., 4100 on the south side
Since all the north-south cross streets bisect Flamingo, they all show the same block numbers on the north and south sides.
The Flamingo signs show the number of blocks times 100 from Las Vegas Blvd., where E. Flamingo changes to W. Flamingo. At that intersection, the signs simply show Flamingo Road and some only have Flamingo on them. The first signs with W. Flamingo Road on them are at the Hotel Rio Drive intersection.
The cross streets switch between north and south where they cross Fremont Street.
Sorry, but we don’t see anything backwards about the system. Las Vegas uses the same type of grid system as everywhere else in the U.S. and it’s consistent throughout the valley, except for Henderson, where the numbering starts at Boulder Hwy. or Lake Mead Parkway and Water Street. This causes some confusion on through streets. For example, driving west on Warm Springs Rd., it changes from East to West at Boulder Hwy., then from West to East at the Pecos Rd. intersection and then back to West again where it crosses Las Vegas Boulevard.
In most European cities and towns, house numbers start at the beginning of the street with 1 on one side and 2 across the street and the numbers increase by 1 regardless of cross streets, skipping numbers only when there’s a difference in parcel sizes on both sides. Often, there's no relationship between numbers on a parallel street one block over, because that street might have started somewhere else.
For our money, it’s great to have the block numbers on the signs when you’re looking for a street address. Many cities don’t bother, so you have to look for numbers on houses, shops, and business signs, which is a distraction when you're driving in traffic.
(Many thanks to LVA correspondent extraordinaire, Peter B., for his expert assist with this answer.)
If I'm driving on Flamingo, I usually know it, and the information I need most should be facing me as I enter the intersection. That would be the name of the street I'm crossing and the block number I'm entering. Personally, I don't want the other drivers sharing the intersection rubber-necking at the signs on either side, unaware of the lights changing and traffic moving or not. Especially in LV, where the light timing is SO... ...never mind, I think we've done that complaint.