It’s funny how some people talk in terms of street names. I personally have never had any inclination to remember street names. Ones of particular importance I obviously know, but a general knowledge of street names and locations isn’t something that I’ve ever cared about.
It’s probably because I started driving during the MapQuest era. Always being able to lookup and print out directions meant that I never had to know what streets were where. And considering today is the GPS era with everyone carrying a GPS receiver right in their pocket, I don’t imagine I’ll ever be one to know streets off the top of my head.
I do think this is generational though because I notice that people maybe 10+ years older than myself tend to speak completely in street names. Recently we were at a wedding and the gentleman at our table was talking about several xcellent restaurants in the city. Of course I’m jotting down the names and doing a quick google search on my phone for their websites, but I found it funny that he was adamant about explaining exactly where they were located, all be street names. “3 blocks north of X and Y, just east of Y on Z.”
Of course I politely oblige and allow him to explain the locations to me, as I always do, but I know full well that this just going to remain in my short term memory and then be gone. With the name and website I already have all of the information that I need 🙂
Although I’m all but useless when it comes to street names I can generally tell you which way North is. Not from a relative positioning sense, but from feeling. It may all be in my mind, but I’ve always felt North. To some people that may sound crazy, but recently I found a post that tells me I may actually be on to something > Humans May Have a Magnetic Sixth Sense.