In the United Kingdom of Great Britain in addition to Northern Ireland of Britain in addition to Northern Republic of Ireland you lot won't notice many roads inward the centers of many towns in addition to cities. This isn't because they are pedestrianized. It is because the discussion 'road' was rarely used equally business office of a toponym earlier the belatedly 16th Century. Up until the 17th Century roads were called something else, such equally 'streets' or 'lanes'. For this ground whatever metropolis or town inward England, which soundless retains its medieval street patterns, volition likely convey rattling few 'roads' inward its center. For illustration the City of London famously has no roads.
Because of the relative modernity of America equally a province I wouldn't await to run across the same lack of streets named 'road' inward American cities. However, judging past times the maps inward The Beautiful Hidden Logic inward Cities at that topographic point seem to hold upwardly rattling few roads inward lots of American cities equally well. Data Stuff has created a serial of maps on which metropolis roads are colored to demonstrate whether they are called 'Avenue', 'Boulevard', 'Street', 'Road' etc. Most cities inward these maps seem to hold upwardly dominated past times streets in addition to avenues.
In the USA I know that lots of cities convey organized their grid systems past times range direction. So south-north streets mightiness hold upwardly generally called 'streets' spell east-west streets are called 'avenues' - or vice versa. However this doesn't explicate the lack of roads. This 'compass grid' convention could soundless hold upwardly maintained past times having 'roads in addition to 'streets' or 'roads' in addition to 'avenues'. Besides inward to a greater extent than or less cities this naming convention isn't used. For illustration inward San Francisco (pictured above) nosotros soundless convey generally roads called 'streets' in addition to 'avenues' yet these are carve upwardly geographically rather than past times range direction. So inward San Francisco nosotros notice that streets inward the due west of the metropolis are generally called 'Avenue' in addition to roads inward the due west of the metropolis are mainly called 'Street'.
There must thus hold upwardly to a greater extent than or less other ground why cities inward the USA don't seem to convey many streets named 'Road'. The Wikipedia article on Street argues that "a street is characterized past times the score in addition to character of street life it facilitates, whereas a route serves primarily equally a through passage for route vehicles". According to this Definition nosotros would thus await to run across to a greater extent than 'streets' inward busy urban environments in addition to to a greater extent than 'roads' inward to a greater extent than rural areas. This rural-urban distinction betwixt 'roads' in addition to 'streets' is novel to me (and I'm non certain it is truthful of United Kingdom of Great Britain in addition to Northern Ireland of Britain in addition to Northern Republic of Ireland 'roads' in addition to 'streets') yet it may hold upwardly supported past times to a greater extent than or less other map from Data Stuff.
Road Suffixes inward the USA contains a pose out of choropleth maps showing the density of route names inward U.S. counties. Data Stuff's analysis of route names suggests that roads named 'road' are past times far the biggest pose out of roads past times mileage inward the USA - amongst 3 times equally many roads (by mileage) called 'road' than the adjacent almost pop advert of roads called 'street'. The lack of streets named 'road' inward American cities in addition to the fact that at that topographic point are to a greater extent than 'roads' than whatever other assort of street inward the whole of the U.S. suggests that at that topographic point is a huge urban-rural carve upwardly inward the place roads named 'road' in addition to 'street'.
Someone needs to acquit out a spatial analysis of the distribution of streets named 'road' in addition to 'street' inward comparing to population density.
