[Talk-ca] What do I poutine the name tag of a road with a suffix?

[Brian M. Sperlongano]

On Sun, Dec 11, 2022 at 8:08 PM Hoser AB <hoserab1 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Brian happened to provide examples from the US of A to illustrate that in
> said country they've made the choice to "unabbreviate" where possible, and
> that's fine and dandy; it doesn't matter much to me what the nomenclature
> is in Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America (although
> I have been to the White House and happen to know that the street signage
> quite consistently uses abbreviations, i.e. "Pennsylvania Ave NW" :P).
>

Since Washington DC is a city that we have both visited, Would you
elaborate on the comparison between Washington DC, and Calgary?

So far, from this thread, I understand that:

1. Both places abbreviate their street names and quadrant suffix on signs
(e.g. 6 ST NW)
2. In both places, residents verbally speak out the expanded version of
suffixes (e.g. "Sixth Street northwest")

References [1] and [2] show the street signs for 6th Street NW in both
Calgary and Washington, respectively, as well as their differences in
tagging, "6th Street Northwest" in Washington and "6 Street NW" in Calgary.

Until now, I wasn't aware of the tagging difference of "6" vs "6th" in the
name tag, but please also consider that difference in your response!

Specifically, I would like to understand:

1. Is there any difference between the two cities in how the street
suffixes are signed, spoken, or understood locally that would give rise to
the differences in how the name tag on these streets are tagged between the
two cities?
2. If not, is there a reason, other than local mapper preference, to tag
streets in this way?

It is important to understand whether we are simply documenting a choice
made by mappers in different locations or whether there is a substantive
difference in the objects we are trying to map.  If there is a substantive
difference, then this difference needs to be documented so that mappers can
better understand when to apply expansion rules and when to abbreviate.  If
this difference is merely a local choice, then it's important to document
the boundary within which the normal global conventions do not apply.  Is
it only Calgary?  All of Alberta?  All of Canada?  Etc.


[1] 6 ST NW (Calgary)
https://www.google.com/maps/@51.0582943,-114.0780452,3a,75y,214.2h,86.38t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sToSlTcrEKtlH6CSBJA5klA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192
OSM: https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/4818657 "6 Street NW"

[2] 6 ST NW (Washington, DC)
https://www.google.com/maps/@38.9139575,-77.019923,3a,75y,288.91h,97.45t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sAe9hRMIt4x7z9qlvxJV12w!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

OSM: https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/45839046 "6th Street Northwest"
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