Comments on: Austin Street Names – Does a Politically Incorrect Street Name Affect Home Value?

By: dustbury.com » Still more from the Department of Nomenclature

dustbury.com » Still more from the Department of Nomenclature — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 21:05:42 +0000

[...] on the other hand, runs out of numbers after 56½, so different rules apply: We are purchasing some acreage lots in Oak Hill, and I just found out that other buyers on my [...]

By: THE TEXAS SCRIBBLER » No PC name means slower sales

THE TEXAS SCRIBBLER » No PC name means slower sales — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 17:51:35 +0000

[...] That’s according to a publicity-minded Austin realtor’s unscientific (but persuasive) research. Could be unique to Austin (the San Francisco of Texas) or else that the neighborhood in question [...]

By: Steve Crossland

Steve Crossland — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 18:38:03 +0000

> why is the term “politically incorrect” being used for this article????? Term is way over used.

Are you saying it’s politically incorrect to use the term politically incorrect?

It’s used in this article mainly in reference to the guns related street names, such as gatlin gun, shootout, gun fight. There are people who would consider those “politically incorrect” names.

Steve

By: susan brick

susan brick — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 15:52:21 +0000

while I agree about how names of streets make us all think twice about the house we buy, especially names that are ones that you will be having to spell out for the rest of life, or house numbers that are too long and are always missing a number…why is the term “politically incorrect” being used for this article????? Term is way over used.
it doesn’t apply…
Town Lake is not Lady Bird Lake
Ceaser Chavez is 1st St.
Stop the renaming of everything in this town and or double naming everything. Enough all ready! Stupid city counsel or whoever it is that is voting on this. Use your time more wisely with our tax dollars.

By: mental_floss Blog » Greatest Hits of ‘07: Unfortunate/Clever/Unpronounceable Street Names

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 20:38:06 +0000

[...] by this, the Freakonomics Blog held a discussion about whether a home’s value is negatively affected [...]

By: Street Names and Home Value | Urban Planning Blog

Street Names and Home Value | Urban Planning Blog — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 16:48:56 +0000

[...] you name those roads after the trees. Ironic, eh? The Austin Real Estate Blog [via] is examining if street names affect home value. This entry was written by Pratik and posted on August 10, 2007 at 9:48 am and filed under [...]

By: Neil Simmons

Neil Simmons — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 11:25:40 +0000

I suppose logically yes, street names do affect the value of ones property. If you lived in Park Lane, or Mayfair street that would probably psycologically alter the value, even if it’s Mayfair street in Bombay. Likewise, I personally wouldn’t want to live in Diarrhea Close or Pneumonia Avenue. Or perhaps Pratsbottom which is actually a real town in England!!

By: Horse N. Buggy

Horse N. Buggy — Wed, 02 May 2007 21:10:45 +0000

Renaming well known things is an even bigger pet peeve for me. Why do we no longer have a Candlestick Park? Why must the Atlanta Airport now be named for two men instead of just one (Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta Airport)? If you want to name a completely new thing (stadium, airport, street, etc.) after someone, fine – just don’t rename an existing item. It’s so annoying.

By: Steve Crossland

Steve Crossland — Wed, 02 May 2007 20:41:12 +0000

I love the street name system in Hyde Park also. Our first investment property was on Avenue G. I’m not sure how “Speedway” got in there instead of Ave E though.

One thing that bugs me is when politicians take perfectly good names such as 26th Street near UT and rename it “Dean Keaton”, or changing 1st Street to Ceasar Chavez. Austin is lettered with “honorary” street names of people when the former name was working just fine. I wonder how much is costs to rename a city street, including the cost to businesses in printing new stationary, people getting lost with old maps, etc.?

Steve

By: Janet

Janet — Wed, 02 May 2007 16:46:26 +0000

When we lived in Austin, we lived in Hyde Park, where the streets are all numbered (34th, 35th, etc.) and the avenues are all lettered (Avenue G, Avenue H). Easiest place to find your way around.

By: Horse N. Buggy

Horse N. Buggy — Wed, 02 May 2007 13:03:27 +0000

For me, it is all about spellability (if that’s not a word, it is certainly a concept). The issue is telling someone your street name for them to record it, either because you’re a customer or a friend. My first name is not terribly unique, but it’s one of those names that no one knows how to spell. Then my last name is completely unique, so I always have to spell it out for people (even people who’ve known me for years). Now I’ve got to spell out my street name for them, too. My street name has the word “Calypso” in it. No one knows how to spell Calypso. If they do, they ask just to make sure they’re right. It’s really frustrating and I curse the marketing department of the homebuilder each time I have to spell out Calypso.

I still bought my dream home despite the name. But I was getting into the first building of a new townhome neighborhood for a really good deal. If I were looking at several spec homes on different streets, I would take street name into consideration. If all aspects of two homes were even, I’d pick the one with the more spellable name. So that you understand how serious I am…I’m a very devout Christian. I’d rather live on Hell Court than Calypso because everyone can spell Hell.

(By the way, I have worked in the homebuilding industry for 12 years. These are my opinions as a homeowner.)

By: » Do street names affect value? Blog0matique

» Do street names affect value? Blog0matique — Tue, 01 May 2007 19:40:20 +0000

[...] Blog, they talked about an article that I thought was pretty interesting, called “Does a Politically Incorrect Street Name Affect Home Value?” Of course, I’m a real estate dork, so this could all be taken with a grain of salt. I [...]

By: The Jeff Beckham Weblog » Austin Realtors Featured on Freakonomics Blog

The Jeff Beckham Weblog » Austin Realtors Featured on Freakonomics Blog — Tue, 01 May 2007 18:25:44 +0000

[...] today by Steven Levitt on the author’s Freakonomics blog for a post they wrote asking whether street names matter when selling a [...]

By: Bloglish - Blogs' Digest---Let your weblog speaks to all » Do street names matter?

Tue, 01 May 2007 14:13:26 +0000

[...] real estate agents in Austin, Texas, Sylvia and Steve Crossland, have posed the same question regarding street names on their blog. Will people pay less for an identical house if it is located on Sisquoc Avenue instead of Pleasant [...]

By: Steve Crossland

Steve Crossland — Sat, 29 Jul 2006 02:59:55 +0000

Hi Jennifer! Great to hear from you. I hope everything is going well for you and the new house.
Steve

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Sat, 29 Jul 2006 00:54:23 +0000

Hi from San Francisco Steve and Sylvia, hope you’re all well. I’ve got to say I consider myself more of a centrist than a bleeding left wing liberal (then again look where I live) but there is no way I could live on George W Bush Boulevard. Anything but that.

By: bill

bill — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 05:14:45 +0000

Austin have a lot of oaks, so a lot of street names are with this or that oak. Kind of boring. Then there’s this very raw, uncivilized, old western kind of names like “gun fight”, “convict hill”, “slaughter ln”, etc. I wouldn’t call them “politically incorrect”, but they are certainly odd or even bizarre. It would be interesting, though, to make a comparison CMA between a few streets with more desirable names and see whether the gap of selling prices are even bigger.