Image by Matt Johnson.

DC has 50 roads named for each of the states, plus Puerto Rico Avenue. How do these avenues resemble the states or territories for which they’re named?

You can learn about how these roads got their names, including why two aren’t Avenues while the rest are. (Quick: can you name them? Answer at the bottom). You can learn which one’s the best, at least according to one ranking (my home state!)

I started thinking not about which is best, but which is most like its state, based on this unflattering tweet about Florida Avenue and the state of Florida:

I asked people for their nominations for ways the avenues resemble the states. Here are some more I came up with:

  • Connecticut: Full of banks
  • Pennsylvania: Connects two centers that don’t like each other much
  • Puerto Rico: The average person couldn’t find it on a map
  • Maine: Buy fish here
  • Oregon: Full of trees
  • Alabama: Not designed as though black lives matter

And here are some from others on Twitter:

  • New Jersey: More trees than you’d think but also about as bleak and desolate as you’d think - Nick Burger
  • Louisiana: Held hostage to Big Oil - Daniel Ridge
  • South Dakota: I know it’s up there but I don’t really have a reason to go - Drew Ackermann
  • Maryland: Drivers go way too fast - Daniel Ridge
  • Ohio: Wll the best people from there are somehow anywhere *but* there when you meet them - Aimee Custis
  • Indiana: Ample parking for cops - Daniel Ridge

My favorite, though, is another one from Daniel Ridge:

Which ones can you come up with? And, which state is most like its avenue? Florida might still be tops on that one so far.

Answer to the top question: The two that aren’t Avenues are California Street, in Adams Morgan, and Ohio Drive, the loop around Hains Point.

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Tagged: dc, fun, public spaces, street naming

David Alpert created Greater Greater Washington in 2008 and was its executive director until 2020. He formerly worked in tech and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco Bay, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He lives with his wife and two children in Dupont Circle.