I mentioned before that I was having trouble adjusting to living in Las Vegas. That is not because of the fact that I moved here during the summer and nearly died of heat stroke every time I went outside. It is not because the people in Las Vegas think that they need to over compensate for the heat by having the air conditioning set to exactly 50 degrees F. It’s not because there is no way to get a job in this town unless you know a guy who knows a guy. It is not even because I just finished college and have no idea what I am going to do next. No, the thing that I have the most trouble with is getting driving directions in this town.
Las Vegas was one giant planned city right? All the roads run toward the cardinal directions right? Well yes, that is how it appears on maps and that is how it was explained to me when I began driving in this city. What they fail to mention, and what is not clearly marked on the map is the fact that certain roads just end. They dead end at a community or a patch of desert. When you find yourself in these predicaments you think to yourself: How can this be? I know that there is more of this road further to the North. Could I really have gotten that lost that I found the end of this road? Am I even in Vegas anymore? Your mind starts to go into a blind panic and you start to hyperventilate. You call your boyfriend at work and he has no idea where you are! Great, the local telling you that you are even more lost than you thought you were.
Or how about this one: You are driving. You actually intend to leave town. Boyfriend tells you where the freeway is and you go toward it. It isn’t there because, instead of saying, “There be the freeway,” the freeway has a name. You have to get on the named part of the freeway to find the interstate. Interesting, no?
Another beauty point is the fact that no one seems to know cardinal directions. North, South, East, West, are all foreign. Instead they give you the intersection of two streets. This is incredibly useful if you know where both of those streets are and the approximate location of point of intersection. If you have a vague impression of where those streets might be you still end up getting lost.
The signs in Las Vegas are posted at the intersection only. This is a problem if you are the 56th car away from the stop light and you are not in the lane that you need to be in. There is the potential, at any given point on a road, that there will be five lanes. Inevitably, the one that you need to be in, the right turning lane also carries through traffic. These people get very snippy if you have to slow them down so you don’t have to power skid around the corner.
I am the type of person that needs directions to be very precise and descriptive anyway. Not only do I need cardinal directions but I need land marks. I need approximate mileage and a safety check like, “If you hit x, then you have gone too far.” I also need alternative directions so that if I do hit that check point I can navigate my way back on course. Even if those alternative directions are, “turn around you have gone too far.” If ever there was a person who needed a Global Positioning Satellite System in their car it is me. I nice pleasant voice that says: In .27miles you will need to make a left turn.
I am from Minnesota originally. This is how we give directions. “You going to WalMart?”
- Take a left out the driveway. That is County Road. 6.
- Take that about 3 miles to Hwy. 15. Take a right on 15. (actually we wouldn’t say 3 miles we would say 3 minutes)
- 15 will take you all the way to Buffalo. It is about 12 miles. (again 12 minutes)
- When you get into town there is an Arby’s on your left and a Perkins on your right. You want to get into the left turning lane at the stoplight and take a Left.
- This road will take you to Wal Mart.
- It will be on your left hand side and it will have its own stoplight. The middle school will be on your right.
- Don’t worry if you miss the stoplight there is second driveway about 100 yards away, you can get in there.
I am of course paraphrasing. I am also giving the most simplified directions. I could have taken the back roads and the whole trip would have taken 8 minutes. I am happy to say that I am getting better at driving around. I have learned which roads dead end and which roads intersect. The only thing that still bothers me is that all the roads are named random names. I think that they should have some named and some numbered. That way you can tell if you are on a North/South road or if you are going East/West. You would also be able to determine where they intersect by how high or low the number is. That is just my Midwestern logic though. I also approve of the way they do it in some California Cities. If they are expecting a high volume of traffic on the road they have pre-warning signs. “The road coming up is called Nextroad.” That way you have time to get into the correct lane before the intersection.
It could really just be me. I may be exceptionally bad at following directions. Somehow, I really doubt it.
3 comments:
First of all I'm a vegas local and I haven't really had to give directions to too many people from out of town. Strangely most the people that ask for directions also live in Las Vegas. I am a very focused person when it comes to performing a task meaning that when I'm driving I don't always notice everything around me. This means that many of my directions do not include you will pass this place and if you see this you have gone too far. Often times I'm not even aware that there is a "rebel" station or a "smith's" shopping center at the intersection.
Another point I'd like to make is that there is always construction in Vegas, and new shops are always popping up. Half the time, I don't know that there is a landmark there because it's either been renovated recently, torn down, or used to be an empty lot. When i moved into my current house there was desert on 3 sides of me and now I'm in the heart of the city.
My last point is that I am really bad with the names of places, and I'll admit, if you don't know where you are going in Vegas, it is easy to get lost. I don't remember that the freeway is named Summerlin Parkway...I just remember that I can get on the freeway at that point. Vegas is notoriously bad for changing the street names while you are driving on them, causing Durango to suddenly become fort apache, and then Durango again 5 miles later. It is also bad at having confusing and probably unnecessary off ramps making it extremely hard for non locals to navigate. Part of this might be to keep the tourists here and not make it easy to just pass the town by.
Anyways, I got lost a lot when I was first driving here too. I quickly learned not to leave home without a preprinted map and a cell phone if I was going to a new location. Also, it is smart to leave a half hour early in case map quest is wrong or your address doesn't exist.
Oh my gosh! Great! Something else to look forward to! "The street that you live on is no longer Greenbush but Monkeyflower!" I'll wonder around asking people where I live. I'll bet that is where homeless people really come from... they haven't lost their home, they misplaced it.
I do have to admit that I have left the house without my cell phone before. Never again my friend! Never Again!
Oh, I totally know what you mean. I've driven through Las Vegas once, ONCE! ... And even that short amount of time was enough to give someone a migraine. Unfortunately, every major city area kind of is like that. I know that originally, even downtown reno was confusing as all heck. "McCarren is ... a circle?" Over time, you'll get used to it and learn the names of the major roads and highways that you need to find other areas. GPS units are pretty cheap now and really helpful as well, but with how fast the city is growing, it may not help for long.
Best way that I've found to get used to a city is to make your errands LONG. Find a store that's across town and force yourself to find it and find your way back. I've been running to Sacramento for things for the last few weeks and I'm getting much better at navigating that area now, whereas originally it was more confusing than anything. Just have fun exploring and if you get lost, shrug it off, laugh about it, and try and trace your route back to where you weren't lost. As Poofy said earlier, always give yourself a large buffer of time. It helps enormously!
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