Dear Folks:

I agree in part with Herb Porter. However, I am generally against the idea of renaming existing streets, and I am particularly against the idea of renaming 10th Street when we have a system with a 9th Street and an 11th Street. The 9th-10th connector is different...it's new, and to try to preserve a numbering system would be impossible. For that matter, to continue it as being renamed to the end by Forest Hills Park would not offend me greatly. However, the folks who live on the street may have an opinion that should not be ignored.

Street names are, first and foremost, the ways in which we identify where people live and work. They are, second, the ways in which we find our way around town. To use street names as a memorial to any person is a legitimate purpose, but it should be lower on the list of priorities than the first two purposes.

By the way, in figuring out what to name the road, let's use Avenue, or Street, or Road, but NOT "Hemings Way."

Lloyd Snook (electronic mail, May 14, 2000)