Lost in British Cities

I'm not the only one, it seems. I've traveled to cities across the globe, into places where few people spoke my language. I traversed Beijing, Nanjing, New York, Auckland, Taipei, Bangkok, and a bevy of others without problem. I could aimlessly wander around the back streets of Shanghai or Quanzhou and return to my starting point with minimal difficulty. But never in my whole life have I ever been as lost as I have in British cities. And it seems even locals have difficulties.

Helen Croyden of the Independent blames people who steal road signs. I've been told that road signs were removed during The War to prevent any German invaders from finding anything, but that may be a myth. Either way, roads are poorly labeled.

In addition to the roads not being labelled, it is nigh impossible to guess what a road should be called because they all curve around back on themselves and have names as random as a child's toy chest. The problem with the road design is due in part to the fact that most roads are historical roads, having been established by cows and people on horseback some 400 years ago.

The US, by contrast, is populated largely by planned cities, with roads in stable grids. The extreme version of this Salt Lake City and other towns developed by Mormons.

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These Mormon towns all have a grid where instead of a standard numbers one way, names the other method most US cities use, they have a literal X-Y axis style grid. Notice that the streets are called West 400 South, or East 400 South. Addresses follow in a style of West 400 South 300, moving along from the (0,0)(usually the Temple) West 400 and then South 300. Perfect mathematical sense. (Except that you'll notice in the top right hand corner of the map they switch to standard numbers/names grids for some reason.)

Edinburgh, by contrast, sports a similar confusion of old meandering roads in Old Town (notice the road marked Cowgate) dating back some 400+ years and straight grid-like roads in New Town that are only 200 years old.

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What is likely to confuse Americans visiting the UK is that the road will carry on for quite a while, perhaps with curves in it, but will change names every few blocks. The spaces between the name changes aren't even static. They change when they feel like it.
On the one hand, this means that when you're scouring South Bridge for that one restaurant, you only have a few blocks to search. But on the other hand, these changes are usually poorly marked, with signs hiding on buildings, behind trees or bushes, or facing another direction. The standard street sign in the US doesn't exist in the UK.



Notice that one is free-standing and usually located on a corner. Notice the other is attached to the side of a building and is usually hidden behind a bush or tree, if it's there at all.

There's a reason most people in the UK have taken to SatNav like a duck to water. If they travel beyond their own village, they're likely to get lost. Not because they don't have a sense of direction, but because the roads are impossible to navigate.

And I haven't even brought up roundabouts!