thebajarunner
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Location: Arizona....."Free at last from crumbling Cali
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Stupid City Names
How about a "Stupid City Name" exercise?
We have a couple up here in Central Cal that are pretty dumb.
Here in Stanislaus County we have Salida.
Thus, the Hwy 99 exit signs all read;
Salida Exit
or
Next Exit- Salida
Also, just North in San Joaquin County we have the wonderfully named Manteca (locally pronounced 'man-TEE-kuh'
Put that translation on your biz card.
Baja Arriba!!
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jeans
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That goes for street names as well....
Developers have to come up with dozens (or more) street names for their spawling housing tracts and often put together melodious sounding Spanish
words with no thought to what they actually mean. Most make no sense whatsoever.
I inherited a house on Vista Calaveras. My aunt lived there for almost 20 years and never knew it meant Skull View. (one diccionario translated it
"cadaver").
Mom always told me to be different - Now she says...Not THAT different
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BajaCactus
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Location: Km. 55, carretera transpenisular, El Rosario, B.C.
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Nice composition Grover... 
Antonio M.
BajaCactus
"Where the Baja is much more than a dream..."
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FrankO
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Location: Ocean Beach
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Oxnard
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David K
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The exit for the Del Mar Fairgrounds is 'VIA DE LA VALLE' ! Only problem with that is 'the valley' in Spanish is EL VALLE, so it should be VIA DEL
VALLE (de + el= del).
By the way, the Del Mar Fair (San Diego County Fair) is now on until July 5, so traffic is effected, (except on a couple Mondays when the fair is
closed).
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thebajarunner
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Careful how you talk about developers..
cuz I are one....
Anyway, to address your point, Jeans, many years ago every town could have a Main, Market and First Street.
Then along came the 911 emergency phone system. These are regional, up here in the Valley they span several counties.
Thus, today if you put in a new development the street names have to be cleared through the Emergency Services people.
Thus, it is harder and harder to find conventional and reasonable names.
I love the Sierras so try to be creative in that area, one of my partners names everything after golf courses, etc.
After naming several hundred streets in my day, the well is running pretty dry.
I guess that is why we have such as "Avenida de las Pulgas" etc.
But don't feel bad SoCal, there is a similar named street just above San Francisco Int. Airport.
Hope this helps,
the names will continue to proliferate and get more obtuse, trust me.
By the way, my street is named Wamble Rd.
Last week the Word a Day folks had this for the day and it means 'to wobble, wander, totter, weave..... feel nausea..... stomach gurgles and
rumbles....'
Nice!!
Baja Arriba!!
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jeans
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| Quote: | Originally posted by thebajarunner
Careful how you talk about developers..
cuz I are one....
Anyway, to address your point, Jeans,.....
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No "dissing" intended. My dad was a developer too and somewhere in the bay area (San Jose?) are streets named for my sister & I.... as well as our
horses!
So every time I see a street that is a girl's name, I think that she is probably the developer's daughter (or horse!)
[Edited on 6-17-2004 by jeans]
Mom always told me to be different - Now she says...Not THAT different
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thebajarunner
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Streets named for kids
There are over a dozen streets in Stanislaus County named after my two daughters.
All kinds of variations on first, middle, combo, etc.
I always drew the line on using our last name.
There are no streets sporting our family name, nor will there be if I can help it.
(I was not offended... some of my best friends are developers, and I am an ardent 'treehugger' in my spare time)
Baja Arriba!!
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BajaVida
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Why haven't you named a street after me?
How about :
La Tijera (the scissor)
Laguna Lake
Atascadero (muddy slop)
Via (or is it Avenida) de las Pulgas (flea way)
No se apure y dure.
Don\'t hurry and you\'ll last longer.
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jeans
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| Quote: | Originally posted by thebajarunner
There are over a dozen streets in Stanislaus County named after my two daughters.
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I knew it!
Last year my sister was driving around a Houston suburb looking for Real Estate, when she came upon a street with our family name, Hebert. She
thought that was kinda neat, and she turned down it. Then she came to a cross street with our father's name. Too weird! She had a camera and took a
picture.
Mom always told me to be different - Now she says...Not THAT different
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El Jefe
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Location: South East Cape
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Carlsbad
Consider my town name, Carlsbad.
Named for the original Czech town of Karlsbad (Karl's town) which had a similar mineral water well, our city was called CarlosMalo by the migrant
Mexicans who populated the bario in the 20's and 30's.
Over the years our home has been refuge to countless friends, relatives and several times whole families who have been in transition from one life
situation to another. Our street name? Refugio Avenue of course!
No b-tchin\' in the Baja.
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Mexray
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Bajarunner...
The 'Alameda de las Pulgas' you spoke of was indeed a real 'Camino' used by the missionaries to travel between San Jose/Santa Clara and Mission
Delores in San Francisco.
I grew up in Belmont, on the SF peninsula, right off the 'Alameda' and traveled that road every day of my life in those days.
A good family friend was a teacher and collected Calif Indian artifacts all her life. She studied the history of the area extensively, and I can
recall her telling of the 'Alameda' and it's missionary use.
It would indeed have had the habitat many pulgas', as it's in the rolling hills east of the spine that holds the San Andreas Fault. This area had
lots of sage brush, white oaks, and knee-high native grasses.
About five miles to the east, and along the shore of SF Bay, runs the 'El Camino Real' between San Jose and San Francisco. This 'Kings' route was
much 'flatter', but would have been difficult to travel during the wet, winter seasons. The 'Alameda' was on firmer ground, and probably used during
those times.
According to my clock...anytime is \'BAJA TIME\' & as Jimmy Buffett says,
\"It doesn\'t use numbers or moving hands It always just says now...\"
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Packoderm
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Here are some English translations of Spanish names of some California towns that I can think of off hand:
The Cats (Los Gatos)
Green stick (Palo Verde)
High stick (Palo Alto)
Skulls (Calaveras)
Little Skulls (Calaveritas)
The baths (missing tilde) (Los Banos)
Bar/Wine Celler (Bodega)
Cow Town (Vacaville)
Bird (Pajaro)
Salts (Salinas)
High (Alta)
Sand (Arena)
Mouth (Boca)
Devil (Limbaugh)
Short Lumber(Corte means short, right?)
The Golden (El Dorado)
The Soils (Las Lomas)
Shark (Tiburon)
Green (Verde) (Oops, spelled Verdi)
The Nest (El Nido)
[Edited on 6-18-2004 by Packoderm]
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David K
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Heck, and those are mostly all in the Bay Area!
Corte Madera might translate as Cut Wood...?
Down here in Baja Alta Califorina, or is it Alta California Sur?:
View (Vista)
Hidden (Escondido)
The Table (La Mesa)
The Box [or Crate] (El Cajon)
Of The Sea (Del Mar)
Little Oaks (Encinitas)
Hot Water (Agua Caliente)
Shovel (Pala)
Look at the Table (Mira Mesa)
Pretty View (Linda Vista)
probably more, but too sleepy to think...
(Spanish added)
[Edited on 6-18-2004 by David K]
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Tucker
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How about Skeet's town of "two sticks", or "Butterfly"?
\"I think it would be a good idea.\"
-- Mahatma Gandhi, when asked what he thought of Western civilization
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whodat54321
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| Quote: | Originally posted by BajaVida
How about :
La Tijera (the scissor)
Laguna Lake
Atascadero (muddy slop)
Via (or is it Avenida) de las Pulgas (flea way) |
Las Pulgas Road, which is on Camp Pendelton is well named, according to the troops stationed there.
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