Las Vegas’ themed streets

By Eli Segall

Sunday, April 20, 2014 | 2 a.m.

When Chrisenda Felix gives people her street address, she often gets the same reaction.

"Time Machine?" people ask in disbelief.

Felix rents a two-story house on Time Machine Avenue in a Las Vegas subdivision named "Novels," near Arabian Nights Street and Oliver Twist Lane.

Perhaps more surprising, her neighborhood isn't unique. Dozens of subdivisions have offbeat street names, with themes such as booze and baseball. There's Cognac Lane, Wrigley Field Avenue, Cinderella Lane and more.

And there's misspelled street names, such as Tequilla Lane and De Vinci Court. Robb Beville, president of Harmony Homes, said: "If you submit them with bad spelling, they get approved with bad spelling."

Insurance agent Kathy Strandboge lives on Rocketman Circle in Constellation Estates. She said many people assume her street is named for the Elton John song, when in fact it is a tribute to astronauts.

"I don’t know where they come up with this stuff," she said.

Developers pick street names. There are a few rules they must follow, and local government officials have to approve the names, but they have carte blanche otherwise.

The Rules

• Street names can't already be in use, be offensive or be confusing, especially to police or firefighters. Clark County policy dictates that names with similar pronunciations be used only once valleywide. And only common spellings are allowed — for instance, "Jane Road," not "Jayne Road." Foreign-language names also are rejected "unless their meaning is polite and reasonable," according to county law.

• In Las Vegas, ironically, given its etymological roots, policy outlaws foreign language suffixes on street names. It also bars names that "tend to be slurred or difficult to pronounce."

• Street names can be no longer than 20 characters and can’t be stand-alone prepositions, conjunctions, numbers or letters.

• Driveways can't be named, either.

There are no laws against themes

Local roads are named for baseball players, fashion designers and police officers killed in the line of duty. Offbeat choices might reflect a developer's personal taste or sense of humor. Beville said some developers let engineers name streets. "A lot of builders don’t really care," he said. There even are rumors that Henderson city workers who processed a development's plans named a cluster of streets after their dogs.

A sampling of neighborhoods with clusters of themed streets

Las Vegas

• Alcohol: Whiskey Lane, Rum Lane, Tequilla Drive, Chablis Drive, Cognac Lane, Scotch Drive, Kalua Drive

• Baseball stadiums: Comiskey Park Street, Ebbets Field Street, Wrigley Field Avenue, Fenway Park Avenue

• Caribbean: Rum Clay Lane, Grenada Circle, Tobago Lane, St. Martin Avenue, Jamaica Way

• Casinos: T Bird Drive, Stardust Drive, Sands Drive, Sahara Drive, Flamingo Drive, Tropicana Drive

• Literature: Arabian Nights Street, Time Machine Avenue, Oliver Twist Lane, Tom Sawyer Street, Black Beauty Street

• Fairy tales: Cinderella Lane, Aladdin Lane, Rip Van Winkle Lane, Hansel Circle, Gretel Circle, King Midas Way, Sleepy Hollow Way

• Golf: Broken Par Drive, Trailing Putt Way, Dog Leg Drive, Cart Crossing Way, Ladies Tee Court

• Ireland: Pot of Gold Avenue, Irish Pub Street, Irish Eyes Court, Irish Spring Street, Lucky Clover Street, Rainbows End Drive, Green Clover Avenue

• New York City: Knickerbocker Avenue, Sheepshead Bay Avenue, Brooklyn Heights Street, Ditmars Street, Macdoogle Street, Midwood Avenue, Grand Concourse Street

• Royal England: Princess Katy Avenue, King Richard Avenue, Westminster Avenue, Londonderry Street, Prince Scotty Street

• Nuts: Pistachio Nut Avenue, Macadamia Drive, Cashew Court, Walnut Family Lane, Pecan Pie Court

• Space travel:Buzz Aldrin Drive, Launch Pad Avenue, Rocketman Circle, Mission Control Avenue, Cape Canaveral Avenue

• The Hobbit: Rivendell Avenue, Middle Earth Street, Hobbiton Avenue

Henderson

• Art: Blue Palette Avenue, Brush Stroke Street, Tinted Canvas Street, Self Portrait Street, Subtle Color Avenue, Romanesque Art Avenue

• The Beatles: Hearts Club Drive, Yesterday Drive, McCartney Court, Magical Mystery Lane

• Magic: Hocus Pocus Place, Houdini Street, Abracadabra Avenue

North Las Vegas

• 1950s and 60s: Sock Hop Way, Buddy Holly Court, Checker Way, Twist Circle

• Greek and Italian classics: Aristotle Avenue, Socrates Street, De Vinci Court, Dante Court

• Outer space: Earth Court, Equator Avenue, High Altitude Avenue, Globe Street, Solar System Street, Satellite Avenue, Deep Space Street

• Entertainment: Variety Avenue, Matinee Avenue, Cartoon Court, Debut Court, Cinema Avenue, Critic Court