Am I the only one that thinks that the street names in Reno are screwed up? The whole McCarran loop is a total fiasco. If you look on the map (below), McCarran Blvd is one big loop. Anyone that would vote to give this whole loop one street name instead of four is pretty dense, in my opinion. For those that are directionally challenged, there are four points on a compass (North, South, East, West). Likewise, there are four distinct "sides" to this loop known as McCarran Blvd. If, alas, we decide to stick with calling the whole thing McCarran (for the sake of honoring the former senator), at least have the decency to differentiate the sides by their cooresponding directions (N McCarran, S McCarran, E McCarran, and W McCarran). For those out-of-towners reading this, what we have here instead is only two (2) names: North McCarran and S McCarran. North McCarran extends from I-80 on the west side all the way around northward to I-80 again on the east side. Likewise, South McCarran extends, apparently, from I-80 looping around to I-80 again, through the south side of town. Look:



We, for example, live right off of "South McCarran", despite the fact that we're clearly on the east side of the McCarran loop. Who is responsible for this, anyway? To add further insult to injury, the signs on the interstate highway (I-80) now have been revised to say "McCarran West" and "McCarran East", which is odd because all the addresses that you'll be looking for will either be North or South, not east/west. Furthermore, once you drive about 20 feet from the off-ramp, you'll either be on said North McCarran or South McCarran (but at least you'll know which side of town you're on...)

Another mess can be found on the street signs found at certain intersections along this loop. On one corner you can find a sign proclaiming "McCarran Blvd East" and 20 feet away on the opposite pole is another with the moniker "E McCarran Blvd". Which is it? (Of course, we all know that it's really South McCarran, anyway...) A quick trip to Mapquest confirms this whole deal: a search for "E McCarran Blvd" turns up 14 maps, all of which are either North or South McCarran, but no "East", at all. Furthermore, if you look at the following map, notice that "S McCarran" is on the east side of the loop! Also notice that plain old "McCarran" (!) could be anywhere from Southwest Reno to Northwest Sparks, a distance of over 10 miles away. Can you now understand the confused looks when you ask someone for directions, and they say "we're right off of McCarran"??!! Try to find an address on this street, go ahead, I dare you...



Still not convinced? Need more screwed up street signs to make you a believer? Fine. Check out my gripes page.