Was Fairview really the best street name you could come up with?

Word choices matter. Names can attract or repel people.

Fairview Avenue is a four-lane shopping street that runs west from 16th Street in downtown Boise over to Meridian, where the name changes to Cherry Lane.

Fair isn’t the best adjective, but it also isn’t the worst. Why not good or great? Foulview Avenue could be the road past a sewage treatment plant. That name would not help to sell real estate.

In south Boise there is a Victory Road, but no Defeat Road. Further south there also is an Amity Road, but no Emnity Road. 

In Indianapolis, Indiana there is a Ditch Road which runs north from West 73rd St. to West 116th St. When I asked about it, I was told that back before it was paved:

“When it’s dry it’s a road, and when it rains it’s a ditch.”