The main difference between avenue and street is that avenues usually have trees on either side while streets have buildings on one or both sides of them. More importantly, in the US, avenues tend to run perpendicular to the streets.
If you travel around in any city in the world, you will notice that different roads have different titles. Some of these include avenue, lane, boulevard, drive, and street. A road is simply any path that connects two points. This is the most basic of any naming conventions.
Key Areas Covered
1. What is an Avenue
– Definition, Features
2. What is a Street
– Definition, Features
3. Difference Between Avenue and Street
– Comparison of Key Differences
Key Terms
Avenue, Street
What is an Avenue
An avenue is a road or public way that has a line of shrubs/trees or buildings on either side of it. Some sources describe that avenues run perpendicular to the streets. However, it can also be longer than a street. Let’s look at some dictionary definitions to understand the meaning and usage of this word more clearly.
Cambridge dictionary (online) defines it as “a wide road with trees or tall buildings on both sides, or a wide country path or road with trees on both sides”. Lexico dictionary (powered by Oxford) describes that in American English avenue mainly refers to “thoroughfare running at right angles to the streets in a city laid out on a grid pattern” while in British English, it refers to “tree-lined approach to a country house or similar building.” So we can come to the conclusion that the name avenue can either refer to a city road that perpendicular to streets or a tree-lined driveway to a house situated off the main road.
It’s also important to note that some real estate developers tend to call new roads ‘avenues’ to make a better impression of that road.
What is a Street
A street is a road or public way in a city or town with buildings on one or both sides of it. The name street is more commonly used in areas with larger population density (cities and towns rather than villages). The Merriam Webster dictionary describes it as “a road in a city or town that has buildings that are usually close together along one or both sides”. Lexico dictionary, on the other hand, defines it as “a public road in a city, town, or village, typically with houses and buildings on one or both sides”.
Some sources also state that streets as shorter than avenues and rune perpendicular to avenues. The Wall Street (New York Street), Bourbon Street (New Orleans, Louisiana), and Lombard Street (San Francisco, California) are three famous streets in the United States.
Difference Between Avenue and Street
Definition
Avenue can refer to a wide road with trees or buildings on both sides, or a wide country path or road with trees on both sides, while a street is a public pathway in a city or town that has buildings that are usually close together along one or both sides.
Landscape
Avenues usually have trees on either side while streets have buildings on one or both sides of them.
Connection
More importantly, in the US, avenues tend to run perpendicular to the streets.
Conclusion
The main difference between avenue and street is that avenues usually have trees on either side while streets have buildings on one or both sides of them. More importantly, in the US, avenues tend to run perpendicular to the streets.
Reference:
1. “Most Famous Streets in the U.S.” Famous Wonders of the World: Best Places to Visit |, 5 Oct. 2013, Available here.
2. “What Makes a Street vs Avenue vs Boulevard?” VW of Kingston, 11 Oct. 2016, Available here.
Image Courtesy:
1. “5274376” (CC0) via Pixabay
2. “NYC – Stone Street” By Wally Gobetz (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) via Flickr
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