Group Hopes to Rename Street After Douglas Adams

interstellar_donkey writes "Despite the recent brouhaha over the renaming of 4th Ave after César Chávez, a Portland group is pushing to rename a local street after the late writer Douglas Adams. The street? Why, 42nd Ave, of course. According to their website, the renaming will reflect Portlanders' commitment to the arts, respect for the environment, desire to provide technological access to all, their passion to further education to all people, and most importantly remind Portlanders DON'T PANIC. This appears to be a serious movement, with preliminary paperwork already in the works."

Rename the streat to "DON'T PANIC" instead

[Per Abrahamsen]

It would be so much more in the spirit of Douglas Adams.

Re:I Am Against This...

[FredDC]

I live in Europe, and we have had names for our streets since... Well, since the streets were placed there. And I can tell you that we're not hopelessly getting lost all the time. The human brain is quite capable of linking names to places...

Naming a street after someone is a great tribute to that person, and in my book Douglas Adams deserves to have more than 1 street named after him. 42 of them in fact!

Re:I Am Against This...

[Xiaran]

If any street in London is to be renamed it must be in Islington. As a resident of the area DNA used to live Id suggest one of the side streets off upper street... maybe near Hotbalck Desiatos(for those that dont know thats a real estate agent... the real estate agent came first). How does one get the ball rolling on renaming a street in London? Id be up for a petition or whatever. Actually Ive come over quite serious all of a sudden. If anywhere has a street named after Douglas then it should be in Islington. If anyone has any ideas please mail be at [e-mail]

Oh and did you know threadneedle st used to be a gropecune lane?

Well, I AM from Portland, and it's in my hood

[sethawoolley]

I live on 34th and NE Stanton, just 8 blocks (20 blocks per mile in Portland, so .4 miles away), and AS a resident, I HEAVILY support this measure. I used to work on 42nd and Broadway and am involved in the local business community there.

I'm also an atheist and an environmentalist, as are most of the people here. Well, there are a lot of lesbians, too, at least according to the Census Bureau factfinder website (I have no idea how they found that out, but it's true, for I bought my house from a couple).

It actually came up because the Hispanic community wanted to rename Interstate Ave after Cesar Chavez (since Union was renamed MLK), which the people on Interstate thought was dumb, so it met with heavy public protest. The Mayor and Council were all for it, and then the public found out.

Since 42nd is a kind of major street, it would be very cool to have it renamed after Douglas Adams! We could open a Don't Panic Coffee Shop (or electronic gadget store).

I think the only major complaint would come from "42nd Street Station", a little mini-mall just off Sandy Blvd that would probably have to change their name!

It just needs some money to pay for paperwork, so please, donate!

Gladstone Street shirley a better choice?

[threaded]

Why not rename Gladstone Street, it already has The Pub at the End of the Universe. http://portland.citysearch.com/profile/11495658/portland_or/pub_at_the_end_of_the_universe.html [citysearch.com]

Re:Respect for the environment?

[Tim Browse]

I was somewhat surprised in later years to realise that it was actually his factual work 'Last Chance to See' that was my favorite of all his works

It was his favourite, too.

Re:I Am Against This...

[prattle]

The metropolis of London has no numbered streets, no grid system and numerous name conflicts - the number of 'High Streets' is - if I remember correctly - in excess of 50 and we Brits manage fine.

"Manage fine"? When the tube got bombed in 2005, the bookstores quickly ran out of A-Z books (detailed city map books) 'cause commuters couldn't find their way home without them.
In a rational sort of city, the natives don't walk around with maps.

Re:If only this were truly funny

[Simonetta]

I live also in Portland and I simply detest these street name changes. This isn't simply a matter of swapping a handful of street signs. There are millions of maps both printed and internet-based throughout the world that are now out-of-date. And with millions of GPS navigational devices being installed in cars and other vehicles, all the software becomes invalid. And with the absurd tendency to change a major street name every few years, none of the software for Portland Oregon is ever correct. Try renting a car from the airport and trying to find an address on Portland Blvd, and then getting lost in Northeast Portland. What a nightmare.

    This street-renaming tendency results from the inability to tell the difference between an empty symbolic gesture and an action that would really make a difference in the lives of the people? For instance, instead of spending tens of thousands of dollars on a street name change for Cesar Chavez, why not spend the same amount of money developing a public domain software program that translates Mexican Indian languages like Maya and Zapotec into English. There are thousand or so Mexicans in Portland and the Willamette Valley who don't speak Spanish but occasionally interact with the locals. A language translation utility would be much more useful to the Mexican people in Oregon than an empty symbolic gesture like a street name change. It would be more in spirit with Cesar Chavez's actual vision of doing serious and concrete things to help his people in their daily lives.