Why City Streets Don’t Run Perfectly North-South

There are cities around the world where streets aren’t quite in alignment. | Go to squarespace.com/julianoshea to get a free trial and 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.
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Unknown Melbourne is a series exploring the weird and wonderful parts of the city.
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Read More and References:
Data visualisation on city grids by Geoff Boeing - geoffboeing.com/2018/07/city-...
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[@NotJustBikes]

Your editing an animations are getting SO much better. And this was a really interesting video topic as well. Nice work!

[@JulianOShea]

Thanks mate! High praise from you. Got good vibes about the channel at the moment. More cool stuff in the works! 🟠

[@Nika_314]

both you and julian create a personal tone in your videos by filming the footage your self and i personally love it!

[@bennichols561]

You are why I'm here. Because apparently I needed to do more study on city planning. Who knew

[@Antphoneigh]

Very smooth!

[@chazza5606]

Love your videos

[@wiesorix]

I love the fact that the grid doesn't match the current magnetic north but it did match the historical magnetic north. It's something I would have never thought of myself, which makes it much more satisfying to here you explain!

[@joshuataylor3550]

I find even wierder that an arbitrary compass point would make humans want to build aligned with it

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

I personally believe American suburban planners went to an Italian restaurant for dinner, had lots of spaghetti, and jokingly said "Imagine if we designed these places like our food!"...and then did it anyway because they couldn't think of anything else

[@shaukahodan2373]

the Ocean down "South" New Jersey Avenue" or "Head North on Atlantic Ave and make a left onto North Pennsylvania Ave."

[@mchammer1809]

Looks nice

[@hbomb4246]

I love the fact you're getting more and more views, I grew up and still call myself a Melbournian though due to work I have had to opportunity to travel the world, haven't been back for 3 years now, covid and all but these videos have made me love and miss home even more. Can't wait to come back home and see the plant statues in St Kilda and the trees you can email and even the air duct's in Fed square. Keep up the great work Julian your research is second to none & you should do meet up sometime for your followers, love to pic your brain at a pub sometime. Good stuff all round.

[@JulianOShea]

Thanks, mate.

[@devluz]

You should come to Dunedin, New Zealand one day. We have a partial grid layout but the designers ignored (or didn’t know about) the local topography. The result is total chaos once they realised the hills and gorges make a grid impossible.

[@ryanwood93]

Christchurch, the perfect true north grid!

[@RedHillian]

Really interesting - thanks! As you started, I did wonder if you were going to mention Montreal - did some work there, and finding exits of buildings labelled as "North", when it was Montreal North really had me confused at first!

[@JulianOShea]

Cheers, Tom! I haven’t been - but keen to see it for myself.

[@H4V0K1407]

I've never once thought about North-South alignment for cities as being that important. Maximized alignment with the average direction of a river makes much more sense.

[@mikelytou]

0:18 that visualization of statistics is a true piece of art!

[@whataname955]

That was a fascinating video; the magnetic direction was something I didn't expect. You should check out Ladd's Addition in Portland, Oregon - a tilted section in the city grid, except this one was done just for the heck of it.

[@JulianOShea]

Great recommendation - I’m headed to the US and if I get to Portland, will check it.

[@dekyed]

As someone who just moved into Melbourne, you're videos are super informative!

[@JulianOShea]

Thanks, mate

[@MeppyMan]

Welcome to an awesome city!

[@wordsmith451]

*your

[@WomblingFreely]

As a Melburnian currently in Toronto and visiting Montreal this weekend your timing is spectacular. Great video!!

[@bradwconnors]

Just love that we have our own YT star who clearly loves what he does and we can all see the evolution of his craft too. These videos just keep getting better and the quality is top shelf. Thank you for your content!

[@Seriously983]

I've been wondering about this for years. Thanks for doing the hard work and making the video!

[@JulianOShea]

Thanks, Ethan - Glad to help!

[@lukec9402]

Great info about the city I thought I knew everything about. Very well explained and visualised. Thanks mate keep it up

[@JulianOShea]

Thanks, Luke - Glad you liked it!

[@lohryder4276]

Been in Melbourne my whole life but am always fascinated by your videos. Legend mate, keep it up!

[@noccer]

Love your channel, as a Melbourne resident of 14 years it's great to finally understand the reason for the 8° grid, it always bemused me! Keep it up ☘️

[@mhossen]

Bloody good video mate. Can see you’ve also put a lot of work in to the edit too. Great job!

[@JulianOShea]

Thanks, Michael! Production values are on the rise…

[@tis7963]

The Kansas City metro area straddles the border between Kansas and Missouri. The street grid is nominally north-south, but the streets are not exactly parallel on the two sides. This is due to the Kansas side and the Missouri side being surveyed starting from different principal meridians.

[@JulianOShea]

I’m headed to Kansas soon - could be a video to be made there…

[@chloestars4552]

@@JulianOShea As someone who's lived in both Kansas City and Melbourne I'd appreciate this. I definitely prefer Melbourne though!

[@annleach7908]

I grew up in rural Indiana and Michigan. County roads often have a dog leg bend in them where they meet at the county lines for the same reason.

[@leesar1447]

Thanks Julian!👍 Always love watching your videos! They are always so well researched and presented in a fun and informative way. Cheers!

[@JulianOShea]

Thanks so much, Lee!

[@thisislilraskal]

The quality of your videos are tip top, like the editing, effects, audio, and the subjects you choose, I always learn something. Just added the channel to my notifications 🔔

[@theonlyenekoeneko]

Thanks for uploading with the captions ready! Super appreciate that!

[@idontthink]

Great videos! You keep topics interesting and filled with information. I would have never cared about all this otherwise!

[@wasabinator]

Absolutely fascinating and so well researched as usual!

[@Jintobeanie]

Awesome video! Didn't know we had a waterfall on the Yarra. Would love to hear more about indigenous history, landmarks and geography in Melbourne too ~

[@ayden3311]

Great video Julian! The music and animation was perfect along with everything else in this one, good to see you're improvements

[@TheMrFishnDucks]

Very informative and fun video. Keep up the good work.

[@mfaizsyahmi]

Barcelona was actually orientated to maximize sunlight. They're at perfect 45° so that every side of every block gets equal amount of sunlight. How it aligns with the coast is coincidental, as the core of the 45° grid (the Eixample) is really in between Old Barcelona and the nearby villages that merge with it. It's a real foresight into the human side of urban design by the designer Ildefons Cerda.

[@BluePieNinjaTV]

It's probably the best designed city in the world

[@freakincaige]

Love these Julian, keep it up!!!

[@user-kk4zw5jo4t]

Love your work Julian! Another great video! 😀

[@Lasercatss]

Thanks Julian! Your videos are so bloody cool, and you talk about stuff that everyone kind of thinks about, but just accepts. Thank you 😊

[@bradarnoldt8755]

Love your videos. Lots of great info!

[@Omegavision79]

Bloody marvellous. Right in my wheelhouse. Going to enjoy your video on the mile-spaced surveyor grid when that comes out 😎

[@yaekmon]

Great video as always, Julian. Love this city! One thing I remember being told at school was that the reason Melbourne's tram network survived largely intact into the modern era is due to our unusually wide streets. Is there any particular reason Melbourne's streets were built so wide?

[@JulianOShea]

My understanding is that it was a design decision about the importance of open space for the health and wellbeing of people in the city. (Hoddle wanted it - the Governor was less keen.)

[@MuddyM]

@@JulianOShea I know that the streets are wide in Dandenong is because Dandenong used to be a Cattle trading town, and the wide streets were needed to transport the cattle.

[@theonlyenekoeneko]

it might have been for more easy animal drawn cart u-turns

[@markfryer9880]

The tram network survived because Melbournians would have lynched any government or officials that tried to take their trams away! In the 60s when every other city was ripping up tracks for their trams or interurbans, and converting to buses, Melbourne said No Thank You! We will stick with our trams. Nowadays, you find cities around the world that ripped out their trams are having to spend Billions to reinstall a pared down system and re-educate pedestrians and drivers to be aware of trams. Mark from Melbourne Australia

[@FlareOfLegacy]

Read somewhere (and I believe there's a video about it too) that Melbourne's trams were also relatively newer compared to other cities where their tram networks were falling into disrepair, and to add to that, Melbourne's tram tracks were concreted so it would be much more expensive to remove them.

[@LCaddyStudios]

I must say it’s definitely really interesting going to Melbourne on a holiday and stumbling into the topics of some of your videos.

[@Katie_v]

Your videos are always so interesting! Thank you!

[@phoebeyeung1553]

hey julian, these videos are top notch and so enjoyable thank you for sharing them!

[@shannonpincombe8485]

I love Melbourne's streets and their alignment. Keep making great vids!

[@SergeiBoy]

Thanks for the content to create Julian . I really enjoy your videos

[@dartology]

Thanks Julian. Fantastic video!

[@simonpollo]

Great as always! Thank you!

[@theresabradley4716]

I love learning new things about my home city. Thanks Julian!

[@madswansfan1]

Another fascinating video. Thanks Julian

[@flyingdutch9818]

Awesome work. Love it!

[@tailwind9554]

Great vid as always Julian. Spent the whole video spotting the filming locations. A missed opportunity to film on the corner of Bourke and Collins Streets.

[@ryansamarakoon8268]

Love this! Always a treat to learn more about my home city

[@JulianOShea]

Cheers, Ryan!

[@vocalpro]

Brilliant as always mate!

[@MichaelRisby]

Thank you, great info about my city. Keep it coming!

[@SShiJie]

Fun fact: In Singapore our streets are designed in such a way that during morning and evenings the sun doesnt blind drivers

[@amandajane8227]

That's really smart as driving in to Melbourne on the monash during sunrise, even though you are going in the opposite direction to the sunrise the reflection off the tower blocks in the city is appalling.

[@DanielWillems1995]

Always a fascinating watch your videos. Keep up the great work and content!

[@TDLightt]

Fascinating and well presented as always!

[@JulianOShea]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@divarachelenvy]

Awesome video Julian cheers..

[@petethebastard]

Great vid!! Fascination ++.. Well done.

[@bernardsalt322]

Fabulous work!

[@bobthebuilder9638]

Bravo - loved this. As a Sydneysider, I lived in Melbourne for 3 years in the early 2000s and wondered about this issue exactly!

[@LXDV]

OMG! I draw floor plans for a living in Melbourne and are forever checking the orientation building. I have always wondered this! Thanks 🙏

[@JulianOShea]

Answered!

[@nathanhallisey441]

Another great presentation. I just love this channel.

[@jasongarufi8187]

Thanks Julian for another great and informative video.

[@JulianOShea]

Cheers, Jason!

[@isobelsmith6999]

Great work as usual, Julian 👏😊

[@JulianOShea]

Cheers, Isobel - appreciate it!

[@GI-AUS]

Brilliant! Very well explained, fun thing to know.

[@lsp0]

I'm so happy Julian makes these fascinating videos about my home city :)

[@mCblue79]

Great vid Julian. Nice to see a local fella making a great vid of our hometown. 👍😁🇦🇺

[@JulianOShea]

Thanks, Mark 👍

[@glenmorrison8080]

I live in the San Gabriel Valley, just east of Los Angeles, and the mountains to the north run more or less exactly east-west, so our roads run pretty much exactly along the cardinal directions.

[@moniquem783]

Yet another fascinating video!

[@rr888]

Man, honestly, I don't know how you do it but you make some of the most interesting videos I have ever seen, well done

[@JulianOShea]

Kind words! Glad you’re enjoying them. 🚀

[@markzed66]

Interesting and informative. Nice vid.

[@diegoribba]

great video mate

[@bharbir]

Really enjoyed the video, what a fascinating topic, I’m never gonna look at a street the same way

[@fpfp2196]

Very enjoyable video, thanks!

[@langerzzz5652]

Another pearl Thanks Julian.

[@BobBrandon]

Thanks for mentioning Charlotte! Traffic here is challenging at times.

[@_perza]

I think if you did a series on all Australian cities it might be more beneficial for your channel. I am a qlder though and don’t plan on going to Melb anytime soon but your videos so much!

[@ap9970]

I passed a sign in London once saying "Westminster Bridge closed Eastbound" Never heard a taxi driver saying "Not going east of river this time of the night" All bridges run North/South

[@tatyboy1337]

This just made me look closer at a map of Manchester UK where I have been confused by the street layout in the past. the roads run perfectly parallel along the canals in the centre until they meet a train station, then they run parallel to either the nearest trainline or nearest river/canal. very cool and makes a lot of sense considering the industrial past to the city. thanks for the video ^^

[@mfaizsyahmi]

Britain has a lot of roads that align with the old Roman roads, which to me is more fascinating.

[@Mallikarjunaish]

Interesting info, thanks

[@StreakyBaconMan]

The time and effort that goes into these videos really pays off - I would not have watched a video on this topic by many other channels knowing they aren't going to put the effort in to find the things that make this topic interesting in the first place. On this channel I pretty much know - if there is a video about it, there is some interesting angel to it, even if it's not immediately obvious from the topic just because I know the time and effort has been put in to make sure it's interesting.

[@JulianOShea]

Kind words - appreciate it. It’s very much the goal of the channel - so glad you think so.

[@samsta65]

Another great video, thanks Julian 🙂

[@JulianOShea]

Thanks, Samantha! Happy with this one.

[@bonecanoe86]

Philadelphia is another city where the main grid is just a little bit slanted, and it's because of the Delaware River. Up here in Bucks County you have a phenomenon of many north-south roads running almost due east-west, most prominently a good chunk of Route 1, because they're following the fall line of the Atlantic costal plane.

[@mathewtoll6780]

Thank you for this - makes so much sense.

[@JulianOShea]

Cheers, Mathew!

[@nagateja7618]

A cute thing as a a consequence of parallel and perpendicular streets to the coast in Barcelona: the buses have a letter before the number V for the vertical busses on streets, H for the ones on horizontal streets and the D for the ones on the rare diagonal streets.

[@peterbreis5407]

Julian you are brilliant and entertaining. A rare intersection. You are my true north for strange facts about cities.

[@JulianOShea]

Thanks, Peter! Appreciate the kind words. More cool city stuff in the works.

[@aussietaipan8700]

I'm in Melbourne city now heading north, err west err south, ok east. love the channel mate.

[@enfortro]

I always wanted to know this. Thanks Julian. 😎👍🏼👏🏻👏🏻

[@StevieCooper]

Love these videos

[@PackOfWolves]

Very interesting stuff!

[@gatlygat]

Fantastic vid Julian. Good onya

[@JulianOShea]

Thanks 👍

[@longboardfella5306]

Wait - what? I really learned some new things again thanks Julian!

[@maxxxy910]

What a crazy ending. Wondered this since I was a kid, at some point seems I just accepted how it was an forgot. I'm so glad I found your channel a bit ago , the only history teacher i need :P

[@dtrezy5223]

That's interesting. I remember looking through the Melway (Melbourne street directory) and wondered why our main roads weren't running exactly north-south or east-west. I didn't even think of magnetic north.

[@joemmac]

Julian... great vid... thought you'd find Atlantic City NJ a good example of "what were they thinking". The City has a nice grid pattern with main streets paralleling the coastline. Unfortunately, the coastline is at a roughly 45 degree angle to North. So, you might say that naming either direction "north" is okay. However, the Atlantic Ocean is to the East (when heading to AC, you go East), so it would make a lot of sense to name the streets parallel to the Ocean North-South, and those running to/from the Ocean East-West. But, as you might guess, the opposite was done. The City was incorporated in 1854. To this day, that contradiction in directions makes for endless confusion "Sure, go East toward the Ocean down "South" New Jersey Avenue" -or- "Head North on Atlantic Ave and make a left onto North Pennsylvania Ave."

[@Dunkster23]

Side note, there’s some gorgeous autumn foliage there.

[@Jack-kz4nb]

Yo, this is cool. I’m learning stuff that is unusual but super cool.

[@Tommy23r10]

Very cool video, thanks heaps - appreciated it!

[@JulianOShea]

Thanks, Tommy!

[@lachlanwilliamhaynes326]

Really love how you missed out one of the most accurately linear cities in the world, i.e. Adelaide. Typical Melbournian

[@Ellisian]

The editing in this one was great!!!

[@JulianOShea]

Thanks, Ellie!

[@bigbrowntau]

Thank you so much for pointing out magnetic variation. I was sitting here watching your video looking at your orienteering compass, shouting at the screen: "Magnetic variation!" Why did I doubt you? hehehe. Thanks again for another amazing video about Melbourne.

[@pandymoose]

Another interesting video!

[@jaydickson2581]

Great Video. Never even thought to question that our streets follow cardinal directions! Really interesting watch, I’ve learned something new. Thanks Julian.

[@SirGregory]

Great content.

[@kestag2110]

Interesting as always

[@rickshaw84]

I love love love learning about my city thru your videos, Julian! If I ever run into you in the streets, I will probably look like your biggest fanboy. Apologies in advance

[@JulianOShea]

Fan away.