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Group Hopes to Rename Street After Douglas Adams 223

Posted by Zonk from the will-go-well-with-the-simpsons-motif dept.
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."
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Group Hopes to Rename Street After Douglas Adams More

Group Hopes to Rename Street After Douglas Adams

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  • Holy Crap! (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 07, 2007 @05:07AM (#21609937)
    Is this the first story to feature a period at the end of the title?

  • Rename the streat to "DON'T PANIC" instead (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Per Abrahamsen ( 1397 ) on Friday December 07, 2007 @05:07AM (#21609939) Homepage
    It would be so much more in the spirit of Douglas Adams.

    • Re:Rename the streat to "DON'T PANIC" instead (Score:5, Funny)

      by Auraiken ( 862386 ) on Friday December 07, 2007 @06:08AM (#21610229)
      Or rename ALL the streets to "DON'T PANIC". I think that might be more like him. xD

      • Re:Rename the streat to "DON'T PANIC" instead (Score:5, Funny)

        by Penguinisto ( 415985 ) on Friday December 07, 2007 @11:11AM (#21612363) Journal
        You haven't seen Portland's traffic - it's more appropriate than you think ;)

        /P

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by cskrat ( 921721 )
          Yes, the one-way streets downtown are laid out in a manner that ensures that you'll never be able to make a left hand turn where you need to. And the surface streets are confusing enough that it takes several hours of exploration in order to get back on the interstate traveling towards wherever you came from. Often times it's best to just travel north until you can turn around at Jantzen Beach if you intend to go south or south until you get to the Lake Oswego area if you intend to go north.
          • True, true... and let us not forget that recent construction only adds to the fun.

            (...and yet my wife still looks at me funny when I say that I really don't feel like going down there for anything... maybe I'll make her drive it next time).

            /P

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by MiniMike ( 234881 )
      Better yet they rename it "DON'T WALK" - I can already see the crowds lined up on every corner, just waiting...

      Of course, there would still be plenty of people crossing in the middle of the block (maybe looking for a telephone to clean...).

  • A better suggestion (Score:5, Funny)

    by fliptw ( 560225 ) on Friday December 07, 2007 @05:09AM (#21609953) Journal
    Call the intersection at 6th and 9th 42.

  • If only... (Score:2, Redundant)

    by lobiusmoop ( 305328 )
    it was at the corner of 6th and 9th...

  • In my city... (Score:5, Funny)

    by SetupWeasel ( 54062 ) on Friday December 07, 2007 @05:10AM (#21609963) Homepage
    All streets will be named Douglas Adams. Only the hoopiest of froods will manage to find their way.

  • In next weeks news... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Tastecicles ( 1153671 ) on Friday December 07, 2007 @05:17AM (#21609997)
    ...another group has started preliminary paperwork to have 23rd renamed "Illuminatus", and a Prostitute Action Group are to rename 68th "We'll Owe You One".

  • Doh! Flanders! (Score:5, Informative)

    by CranberryKing ( 776846 ) on Friday December 07, 2007 @05:28AM (#21610037)
    Actually Matt Groening is from Portland,OR and many of the Simpsons character are named after streets in Portland.

    • Re:Doh! Flanders! (Score:4, Funny)

      by clickety6 ( 141178 ) on Friday December 07, 2007 @09:34AM (#21611261)

      As a former resident of Portland, I can confirm this is true.

      I was born at 2727 Comic Book Guy Avenue but we moved to 1634 Nahasapeemapetilon Street when I was about 5.

      Some characters are even named after the local nicknames for streets.

      The area where the down and outs hang out were obviously called Itchy Way and Scratchy Street.

      And the nickname for the road with the local gynecological clinic gave us the name for Springfield's mayor.

    • Yup! (Score:2)

      by StefanJ ( 88986 )
      Flanders, Quimby, Lovejoy, Kearny . . . it makes walking to the indie movie house on 21st fun!
  • There should be also a marble and bronze monument to either DNA or to the Answer [wikipedia.org].
    We'd need to do this in every civilised city of the Universe.

  • Good for business (Score:3, Funny)

    by denzacar ( 181829 ) on Friday December 07, 2007 @05:45AM (#21610121) Journal
    I can see business booming in that street if renamed.

    Restaurants, holistic detective agencies, sandwich stands, towel and fish shops...

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by Fizzl ( 209397 )

      towel and fish shops...

      I've heard about fish'n'chips, but this is something completely different!
    • You say this as a joke, but if somebody opened up "Arthur's Sandwiches" on 42nd Street in Portland, I'd plan a vacation around it. I'm already planning a vacation to Philadelphia sometime to eat a $100 cheese steak sandwich. As a sandwich enthusiast AND a fan of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, that would make a great vacation!

  • So... (Score:2, Funny)

    by morgdx ( 688154 )
    So that's where I left my towel.

  • Spelling differences (Score:5, Funny)

    by youthoftoday ( 975074 ) on Friday December 07, 2007 @06:05AM (#21610219) Homepage Journal
    No doubt being in America they're going to try and call it Doglas Adams or some other such vowel-mangling.
  • ... on the towel store on that street.

  • Of course, (Score:5, Funny)

    by SinVulture ( 825310 ) on Friday December 07, 2007 @07:33AM (#21610527) Homepage
    One of the many changes involved in the paperwork is actually that a residential area will be bulldozed to make way for a highway overpass to the new Douglas Adams Avenue.
  • I read that, even now, a majority of Americans would not be willing to accept an atheist holding public office. Would they be willing to name a street after an outspoken atheist?
    • They would where I live! Just 0.4 miles from 42nd! I used to work as the sysadmin at the largest (I think) employer on 42nd. We also legalized gay marriage until the courts overturned it. You have to understand, here we have the second highest circulating library in the country, more bookstores per capita than anywhere in the world, the largest book store in the world (size of a city block) and a 14% vote for Bush rate county-wide in the last election. I'm sure now that number's even lower. Check out:

  • My judgement (Score:4, Funny)

    by PietjeJantje ( 917584 ) on Friday December 07, 2007 @07:41AM (#21610555)
    Using Dirk Gently's I Ching Calculator [thateden.co.uk] (please do follow the instructions), I came to the following conclusion regarding renaming the street:

    THE JUDGEMENT OF KING WEN:

    28. EXTREME OVERLOAD
    The Environment Is Demand Temporarily Load With Many Events, Ideas And Situations, Which Your Consideration. You/They May Fight In Your Attempt, To Solve Problems. If Problems Is Not Bothered From Misunderstanding And Lack At Assessment By Other At Your Attempts, To Solve. If Your Poise Maintain Will Help You, To Follow. Do Not Use Powerful Methods. His Flexible And Prepare You For Fast Passages.

    THE COMMENTARY OF THE DUKE OF CHOU:
    Line 2: With The Right Companions, You Can Reach Almost Everything

  • Gladstone Street shirley a better choice? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by threaded ( 89367 ) on Friday December 07, 2007 @07:46AM (#21610577) Homepage
    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]

  • In the spirit of "keep Portland Weird" (Score:4, Interesting)

    by LM741N ( 258038 ) on Friday December 07, 2007 @07:59AM (#21610641)
    I would rename a street after Aleister Crowley
  • If they pull this off I might have to move there and open a towel shop with a pub next door.
  • For those of you who don't already know, try searching in Google:

    What is the answer to life, the universe, and everything?
    It will answer it just like it does math problems or conversions. :)
  • ...we named our son after Douglas Adams. Well, one of our son's middle names is Douglas, anyway. About 80% of the people we explain this two have no idea who Douglas Adams is, which I think Adams would have appreciated.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by SendBot ( 29932 )
      About 80% of the people we explain this two have no idea who Douglas Adams is, which I think Adams would have appreciated.

      Well said!
  • What was the question? Seriously I didn't see one, I just saw 42 as the answer.
  • Which Portland is this? Oregon, Maine, or some Portland in between? While not quite as common as Springfield, there are still a few of them.
    • This is the big Portland on the Pacific coast, the one that's 100 miles inland from an ocean. The decision to name the city Portland (as opposed to Boston) was decided by a coin toss in the 1850s. There's two Frankfort cities in Germany, and as you pointed out, many Springfields.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by faedle ( 114018 )
      The biggest one.

      There is more than one San Francisco, and nobody ever seems to get that wrong.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by geekoid ( 135745 )
        That's because San Francisco is a huge thriving and beautiful city on the cultural and technological edge.
        Portland, Or. OTOH, isn't.

        Unless you count whiny bicyclists, one of the largest areas for pseudo science, and people who think it's alright to trample on people's freedoms in the names of some hippie ideal as an cultural plus.
    • And Portland, OR, is a quadrant city, so there's two 42nd Ave's, on the east and the west side of the river. And each of those is divided into north and south sections by Burnside...

      so are we talking about NE/SE 42nd, or NW/SW 42nd, or both, or maybe just 1/2 of one of those Avenues?

      • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

        by tachyonflow ( 539926 ) *

        And Portland, OR, is a quadrant city, so there's two 42nd Ave's, on the east and the west side of the river. And each of those is divided into north and south sections by Burnside... so are we talking about NE/SE 42nd, or NW/SW 42nd, or both, or maybe just 1/2 of one of those Avenues?

        It's too bad there aren't any numbered avenues in N Portland, the fifth of Portland's increasingly inaccurately named quadrants...

        • Actually, I think there are. I think there's North 1st through, like 3rd. I might be wrong, but I could swear I've seen a sign that matched /N \d/. but maybe I'm wrong.

          And yes, NoPo does belie the idea that it's a quadrant city, but it's kind of a wedge. I think of it as the 5th quadrant, kind of like the 5th Beatle. It's a defining feature of the city, but most people just know about the other four.

  • This renaming initiative is actually not a bad idea. However, the subject of renaming streets in portland is a very sore one. Just this year, our wonderfully recognizable Portland Blvd. was changed to Rosa Parks Way by the city council who recklessly bypassed our carefully written renaming guidelines by simply voting to not follow these rules in a city council meeting. The sign changes were partial, the prior notice was virtually nonexistent, and it has created a lot of confusion and malcontent. Why they ch

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by faedle ( 114018 )
      Killingsworth is, if memory served, named after an influential family who lived in the Overlook neighborhood.

      Portland Blvd. and Interstate Avenue were considered for "renaming" because they aren't named for a "person".

      Portland Blvd. was confusing, in the sense that it is a secondary street that isn't very commercially significant (and before you say anything, I LIVE one block from Portland Blvd/Rosa Parks). It was named before Arbor Lodge and Piedmont were part of Portland. Most of the reason why you didn

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Simonetta ( 207550 )
      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 r
  • I'm one of the people who was vocally against the original renaming of Interstate Avenue to Chavez, and a resident of the Arbor Lodge neighborhood that was the most opposed to the renaming. It is worth pointing out that this renaming was a hot-button in local politics. People were called "racist" for opposing the renaming.

    Fourth was brought up as a last-minute compromise that nobody was happy with.

    Those interested might want to read the St. Johns Sentinel, the community newspaper up here in North Portland

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