Comments on: Why is 9th ave called Broadway?

Question: Why is 9th ave called Broadway?

PercussivePaul — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 19:30:59 -0800

In Vancouver, BC, the avenues are numbered sequentially, except the street that should be 9th Ave is called Broadway. I thought nothing of this until noticing that the same is true in Eugene, OR. Is that a bizarre coincidence or is there more to it? I thought maybe it was the same in NYC but it doesn't look like it. What gives?

By: acoutu

acoutu — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 19:38:07 -0800

Vancouver's Broadway was originally called 9th Avenue, until some Main St merchants rallied for a name change, saying it sounded more cosmopolitan. Perhaps Eugene merchants felt the same way. Given all the streets in all the cities in all the world, it's not that unusual for two cities to have 9th Avenues known as Broadway.

By: Steven C. Den Beste

Steven C. Den Beste — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 19:48:14 -0800

In Portland, OR, Broadway is where 7th Ave would be expected. I don't think it means anything.

By: Riki tiki

Riki tiki — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 19:51:30 -0800

I'll note that Broadway in Seattle is in the right place to be 9th Ave, too. I don't know the significance, but an interesting pattern.

By: Riki tiki

Riki tiki — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 19:54:10 -0800

...although I forgot to mention that there is a 9th Ave in Seattle, there's just a gap between it and 10th, and Broadway is the last parallel street in that gap.

By: Mr_Crazyhorse

Mr_Crazyhorse — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 20:27:04 -0800

100th Street in LA is called Century.

By: wanderingmind

wanderingmind — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 20:36:09 -0800

In Albuquerque, Broadway is right across the train tracks from 1st, which I suppose would make it technically 0th Street.

By: thebrokenmuse

thebrokenmuse — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 20:37:42 -0800

...Is it the broadest street?

By: nursegracer

nursegracer — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 21:00:41 -0800

Broad Street (kinda like broadway.... but not) is where 14th should be in Philly.

By: porpoise

porpoise — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 21:16:34 -0800

Historically... possibly, thebrokenmuse.

Wikipedia reports "The name of the route was changed to Broadway in 1911, at the behest of merchants around Main Street (at that time the hub of Vancouver commerce), who felt that it bestowed a more cosmopolitan air. Commercial establishments originally spread out around the intersections of Cambie and Main Streets, while the character of the rest of the route remained predominantly single-family dwellings.">

By: PercussivePaul

PercussivePaul — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 21:28:41 -0800

I was initially intrigued because Vancouver and Eugene were my only two data points. The large variation in answers here suggests it's just a coincidence. Oh well.

By: annabellee

annabellee — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 09:18:31 -0800

Broadway crosses much of the island Manhattan at a diagonal, so it's between different avenues all the way through the city. But, for what it's worth, it runs between 8th and 9th Avenues from Lincoln Center to Columbus Circle.

By: Razzle Bathbone

Razzle Bathbone — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 10:33:30 -0800

According to "Street Names of Vancouver" by Elizabeth Walker, the name was changed in 1909 with by-law 676 but for pretty much the same reasons as stated in Wikipedia. It was a real estate boom and "the name was changed in anticipation of the area becoming the centre of a great metropolis a la Broadway, New York.

Not sure where the Wikipedia date comes from, but the information in the book comes from the City of Vancouver Archives.

By: lampoil

lampoil — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 07:01:11 -0800

In NYC, there are at least three Broadways and an East Broadway in the five boroughs alone. The distinguishing characteristic of Broadway is a lack of adherence to the grid. Broadway in Manhattan, for instance, runs from the Northwest corner to the Southeast corner, while most other streets and avenues run North-South or East-West. I've found that slanty-ness to be the case for some Broadways in other cities, but it would definitely make sense for a city to want a Broadway for the other connotations of the word.

To check it out, you can always go to Google Maps and start typing in "broadway, city, state" to whether other Broadways are slanted or not.