From Citizendium

(CC) Photo: Hayford Peirce

An intersection of two stravenues in Tucson, Arizona An intersection of two stravenues in Tucson, Arizona

Stravenues are public roads apparently unique to Tucson, Arizona, a large American city that is laid out predominantly on a grid system in which most of its streets run east-west or north-south. Most roads running east-west are called "streets", while most roads running north-south are called "avenues". Exceptions exist, particularly in the foothills to the north of the city, in which curving, winding roads are the rule rather than the exception, but even here a general pattern of calling them "streets" and "avenues" obtains. In a few areas of Tucson, however, primarily around the central part of the city, which is divided by railroad tracks running diagonally from southeast to northwest, builders have created small subdivisions of roads and houses that also are laid out on a diagonal basis rather than the normal east-west or north-south. Most of these subdivisions are located near either the Benson Highway or Aviation Highway, which also run southeast to northwest.[1] At some point in time, perhaps 50 to 60 years ago, when the first of these subdivisions was created, an imaginative developer denominated its roads "stravenues", a combination of "street" and "avenue". The United States Postal Service recognizes the existence of stravenues, and has designated STRA as the official designation to use when addressing an envelope to, for instance, 2430 S. Holly STRA, Tucson, AZ 85715.[2] The term is even defined in the laws of Pima County, in which Tucson is located.[3] [4]

Notes