[M2inOR]

In the Portland Metro area, the address numbering system starts in downtown Portland.

The are is divided into 5 quadrants (yes I know quad means 4).

NW, SW, N, NE, SE

Out in my old neighborhood about 12 miles to thewest, I was at 17930 NW Fieldstone. Closest main westside N-S street was NW and SW 185th Avenue. My street was a neighborhood street, a short east-west street.

There was a minor east-west road about a mile away where an east-west road was the dividing line between those NW and SW prefixed roads, streets and avenues.

The home I moved from to come to The Villages was a 4-digit house number on SW 190th Avenue which made a hard turn to the east and the road name changed to SW Kemmer Road; this was the name of the family who originally settled in the area. Addresses on that road were now 5 digits, SW 19xxx as it continued east for a few miles or so, ending at SW Murray, the major N-S avenue which was technically SW 155th Avenue.

In summary a broad grid system for getting a pretty good idea of location.

When we moved to that home in 1980 our street address was Rt 2, Box xxx. It was changed to a grid system address for public safety.

I'm visiting this week in Bucks County, PA. George Washington and William Penn slept here. Roads have names and numbers. There's also a menageries of highway names on those named streets, and there's really no way to know where you are. 😉