We live on the NW side of Phinneywood and have an address that includes an “NW,” as opposed to a “North” address. Despite telling first-time visitors we live on NW ___, we invariably get a call sounding something like this: “Hey… I’m on North ___ and I can’t find your address…”
To which we answer that they have to keep driving west to get to our house. For people on the “North” side of the neighborhood, do you ever get calls from anyone wandering around the “NW” address area looking for your house? Or do you have people looking for a “NW” address mistakenly show up on your doorstep? What do you tell them when this happens?
16 responses so far ↓
1 Autumn // Mar 1, 2009 at 9:53 pm
I am renting a house on the NW side of a Phinney street and when I showed up to look at it and meet with the landlords last year, no one was to be found because I was at the house with the (almost) exact same address. Very embarrassing! Luckily, they understood and we got the place!
2 baselle // Mar 1, 2009 at 10:09 pm
Not quite a N-NW issue, but I live on a corner where one of streets jogs about 30 ft to the south. I treat directions as an intelligence test.
3 kibo // Mar 1, 2009 at 10:38 pm
We have several times had pizza delivery call our house to ask why they weren’t answering the door and it turned out they were at N. rather than NW.
4 daniel // Mar 2, 2009 at 7:00 am
I live on the 100 block on NW __ St, and I have to give explicit instructions and even then I get calls from delivery people “There’s no __ NW __ St” or “Your address doens’t exist” to which I have to say “You’re between 1st and Greenwood when I specifically said between 1st and third”
5 Kelley // Mar 2, 2009 at 7:44 am
We live on the NW side and there is the exact same house number on the N side just one block away. I would be so confused if I didn’t know this area like the back of my hand.
6 Kate Martin // Mar 2, 2009 at 8:07 am
I always say that I live WEST of 3rd Ave NW. It’s a real struggle to communicate it and seems no matter how much I emphasize it, I get the calls or the late arrivals.
7 tiktok // Mar 2, 2009 at 9:12 am
Never had that problem, but it does make me wonder why it’s not NW on one side and…NE on the other instead of N.
8 just moved // Mar 2, 2009 at 10:03 am
We just moved (though not for this reason!). We had this probablem all-the-time. Most preveltant when someone a block over has the exact house number as you do, only difference is N or NW…
9 PhinneyLife // Mar 2, 2009 at 11:50 am
If I give directions (in addition to the address), I instruct them to drive PAST 1st before looking for my house. Works about 80% of the time.
10 etta // Mar 2, 2009 at 12:02 pm
I’m on the 100 block of N. I always give the address as the block just west of Greenwood Ave. I have encountered many lost people looking for an address on my block when they wanted a NW address.
I’ve often wondered why the only sign that clearly designates N from NW is the one shown in the photo, on 77th St. Did studies show that the most confused people travel on 77th?
11 seattle mike // Mar 2, 2009 at 12:05 pm
Not exactly that, but we have had problems with there being both numbered and named streets intermixed, running N-S (e.g. Sycamore, Palatine).
We live on 1st NW and we’ve had a confused friend come to see us from the west. She came up 3rd NW and then figured the next street to the East must be 2nd, then the next must be 1st. So she walked into our neighbor’s house one block away – on Sycamore. Fortunately they didn’t freak out and they know us, so they could send her one more block to the east – to our house.
12 rob // Mar 2, 2009 at 12:18 pm
we are a block off the divide, which puts us a couple hundred feet out of 98103 into 98107 which worked great for hacking amazon fresh before they serviced 98107. we would just put in our address as N in 98103, not NW and tell them to keep driving until they saw the blue house.
13 Aka // Mar 2, 2009 at 1:28 pm
Happens all the time. We leave on the street on the photo
We have had party goers show up at house. Late.
I’ve stayed home all day waiting for the gas co. Only to call and find out” they have already been there”. Uh…. No. Even after specifically mentioning the address issue to be sure they came to the right place.
I’ve also rescued many many confused looking people by hollering from my porch” are you looking for north or northwest?
my neighbor had his cable turned off and a for sale sign installed on his parking strip because of the issue.
14 Rob McMurtrie // Mar 2, 2009 at 3:58 pm
My mother-in-law was visiting from Michigan shortly after we moved to Greenwood in 2000. She walked up to the grocery store. On her way back took a wrong turn, ended up 5 or 6 blocks away and was completely confused as to her location. Thankfully, someone spotted her and helped determine the N-NW issue was the problem. Otherwise, she might still be wandering around.
15 kim // Mar 3, 2009 at 2:05 pm
tiktok,
it’s my understanding that there 3 divided sections of the “north” sector since we are north of the ship canal. i’d be curious to see you decided that. but i simply explain that if their in a “ne” section, their ne of the ship canal, “n” then their north and same w/nw. but i question the city on lots of the signage here. don’t get me started on i-5 signs. some of the worst.
16 Greg H. // Mar 5, 2009 at 8:30 am
Tell your visitors this: 1st Avenue NW is a dividing line. Everything to the West has a NW address and everything to the East has a North address. And if you travel far enough toward the east and hit 1st Ave NE, all the houses have a NE address. It’s very simple.
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