Most inappropriately named street in metro GR

[GrSportsGuy]

My vote would be for Cottage Grove on the south side of GR. No cottages, no grove, just industrial buildings.

[Allison Slater]

Ramona. It's nowhere near the former Ramona Park.

[Rhino6885]

College -- umm...enough said

Fountain -- where exactly is the water?

Stocking -- socks anybody? Nowhere to get them...

Paris, Virginia, Ottawa, Maryland, Chicago Drive (though I heard you can actually take it to Chicago) and so on...

Lake Drive -- well, I guess you can see Reeds Lake at Breton

Lakeside Drive -- blocks away from Reeds Lake

Bridge -- well...I don't know where Bridge ends/Michigan begins, so I guess it depends

The winner: Wealthy -- changing, and more applicable as you move east...but still pushing it.

Most appropriate: Oak Industrial Dr., Orchard Lane (by Fuller & Lake)?? (tree lined st.), Reeds Lake Blvd., East Beltline, Lake Mich. Drive., John Ball Park

[witulski]

I followed Chicago Drive on Google Maps once, to see if it went to Chicago... it dead-ends in Holland. What a disappointment!

College confused me until I realized Davenport is on it at Fulton. Davenport's been around since 1866, so it seems believable that that's where the street got its name.

[walker]

I followed Chicago Drive on Google Maps once, to see if it went to Chicago... it dead-ends in Holland. What a disappointment!

College confused me until I realized Davenport is on it at Fulton. Davenport's been around since 1866, so it seems believable that that's where the street got its name.

[Rhino6885]

I can't find a Google reference to back me up but it seems to me I read that it wasn't Davenport but rather a short-lived obscure medical school that College Avenue was named after.

[Veloise]

Michigan --> Bridge --> Lake Michigan Dr.

[NorthCoast]

I followed Chicago Drive on Google Maps once, to see if it went to Chicago... it dead-ends in Holland. What a disappointment!

College confused me until I realized Davenport is on it at Fulton. Davenport's been around since 1866, so it seems believable that that's where the street got its name.

[concretepoem]

Lakeside Drive -- blocks away from Reeds Lake

[NorthCoast]

Not Grand Rapids but I-75 through Dayton has an exit to Needmore Road I've never driven on it though so I don't know whether the name is appropriate or not.

[Nweaver]

There's a great book at the downtown library called Yesterdays of Grand Rapids. It's a collection of old Press articles written by Charles Belknap. They are mainly recollections of his childhood spent in early Grand Rapids - and quite often offer insight as to why things are named what they are. For instance, Fountain is named so because there was originally a spring in that spot that ran down the hill and into the river.

If you get a chance, read it, you'll have a whole new understanding and appreciation for the city.

[walker]

There's a great book at the downtown library called Yesterdays of Grand Rapids. It's a collection of old Press articles written by Charles Belknap. They are mainly recollections of his childhood spent in early Grand Rapids - and quite often offer insight as to why things are named what they are. For instance, Fountain is named so because there was originally a spring in that spot that ran down the hill and into the river.

If you get a chance, read it, you'll have a whole new understanding and appreciation for the city.

[Veloise]

... Fountain is named so because there was originally a spring in that spot that ran down the hill and into the river. ...

[Quercus]

That fountain is great! I wonder what its downfall was. Fountain parks seem to make great meeting places. Antigua, Guatemala:

[Allison Slater]

Aren't there plans in the VAI2 to add a fountain to Crescent Park, or am I imagining things?

[GRDadof3]

How about Prairie Parkway near 28th Street in Wyoming. No prairie, no park, no way.

Sunset Avenue, where we all take those great shots of downtown up on the hill. Ummm, no sunset. How about sunrise?

Santa Barbara, San Jose, Santa Cruz and Argentina in East Grand Rapids. Seems more Plymouth, Mass. than Southern California to me.

Does Kalamazoo Avenue go all the way to Kzoo? I think it does actually.

[Allison Slater]

I do believe Kalamazoo does go all the way to Kalamazoo. I know it passes outside Wayland, at least, and that's the halfway mark. (Though in Allegan it's called something else. 5th Street? Don't remember.)

[tamias6]

I do believe Kalamazoo does go all the way to Kalamazoo. I know it passes outside Wayland, at least, and that's the halfway mark. (Though in Allegan it's called something else. 5th Street? Don't remember.)

[grnd]

Does anybody else see the irony in choosing "Division" as the street to honor Dr. Martin Luther King?

[Allison Slater]

Heh, I do now. Although in the very beginning, Division was the street that connected the Division between the two areas of Grand Rapids: Grand Rapids and Kent.

Looking at it from that perspective, I suppose it fits.

[grrwymg]

How about Prairie Parkway near 28th Street in Wyoming. No prairie, no park, no way.

[GR_Urbanist]

And this one is called Fulton Street Park. (Betcha can't guess why I liked this one.)

Somewhere is an image showing the Fountain St fountain...but we're getting close.

[grnd]

3, 4, 5, 6 Mile rd. ( Where exactly are they X miles from?)

[Veloise]

This is a little off topic, but WHY did they take this fountain down? What on earth was in their salad to think to dump this?!?

[concretepoem]

Santa Barbara, San Jose, Santa Cruz and Argentina in East Grand Rapids. Seems more Plymouth, Mass. than Southern California to me.