(no subject)
Overall Massachusetts is not such a bad place to live, but there is one thing I could definitely do without. Or more accurately, there is one thing I could definitely do with more of. And that is: STREET SIGNS.
This may not make sense to you unless you've ever tried to drive around here, but Massachusetts roads are completely sign-imbalanced. In general, if you go from a side street onto a main street, the side street will have a sign with the street name (not always, but often--and the sign may or may not be big enough to actuall read from a moving car) but the main street will virtually never have a sign telling you its name unless it is intersecting with another main street. I have never figured out the rationale here; apparently it is something like "Obviously this road is so important that everyone who's anyone will know what road it is, and if they don't, they do not deserve to know!" This can result in a situation in which you wind up pulling over and asking a pedestrian, "Excuse me, what road am I on?" (Or less frequently, but occasionally, "What town am I in?")
Yet, while they're very stingy with the street NAME signs, they will very often post redundant or completely useless signs of other varieties. I am thinking in particular of an intersection through which I drive every day on my way to school. There are probably four signs there telling you that you may not turn left in different ways ("One Way," "Do Not Enter," "No Left Turn," "Wrong Way," signs like that)--and there is no sign telling you the name of the street onto which you may not turn left. What is that about?
I could also do without the snow--but I'll save that for another entry. :-)
This may not make sense to you unless you've ever tried to drive around here, but Massachusetts roads are completely sign-imbalanced. In general, if you go from a side street onto a main street, the side street will have a sign with the street name (not always, but often--and the sign may or may not be big enough to actuall read from a moving car) but the main street will virtually never have a sign telling you its name unless it is intersecting with another main street. I have never figured out the rationale here; apparently it is something like "Obviously this road is so important that everyone who's anyone will know what road it is, and if they don't, they do not deserve to know!" This can result in a situation in which you wind up pulling over and asking a pedestrian, "Excuse me, what road am I on?" (Or less frequently, but occasionally, "What town am I in?")
Yet, while they're very stingy with the street NAME signs, they will very often post redundant or completely useless signs of other varieties. I am thinking in particular of an intersection through which I drive every day on my way to school. There are probably four signs there telling you that you may not turn left in different ways ("One Way," "Do Not Enter," "No Left Turn," "Wrong Way," signs like that)--and there is no sign telling you the name of the street onto which you may not turn left. What is that about?
I could also do without the snow--but I'll save that for another entry. :-)