[pdx] Portland Downtown Street Mnemonic Users' Guide

1209. After turning the Portland Downtown Streets Mnemonic (PDSM) around in my head (provided thanks to commenter JD, as per the last posting, I wanted to analyze it a little more.

The mnemonic, provided to us, was as follows:

All Across Portland Our Streets Wind Around Mossy Yards. Traffic Snarls May Mean Jammed Cars, Cranky Motorists Making Minimal Headway. Harried Commuters Just Love Going Slow.

This maps to the following street sequence (from north to south, not including Burnside):

Ankeny, Ash, Pine, Oak, Stark, Washington, Alder, Morrison, Yamhill, Taylor, Salmon, Main, Madison, Jefferson, Columbia, Clay, Market, Mill, Montgomery, Harrison, Hall, College, Jackson, Lincoln, Grant, and Sheridan.

JD had actually extended our sequence to just south of the I-405 in the 4th/5th/6th Avenues area (though there is a slight error; after Grant comes Sherman, and Caruthers and then Sheridan. But someone can tack on the extra C and S; JD did a fantastic job and has given us all a toy to play with.

Now, the key to using a mnemonic like this is to think of it as giving you an easy way to remember the first letter of each street. Once you have that, it's half the battle done. The mnemonic also make it a hell of a lot easier to keep everything in order. It doesn't give you the whole game though – you still have to get familiar with your streets' names (the famed Seattle mnemonic, for example, doesn't tell you the names of the streets or the fact that each initial represents two streets, not one, and which one of each pair comes first – this is all stuff you have to find out)

Once you are familiar with the basics, however, this mnemonic will provide ready-made 'sites' for the information to bind to, making it more easily rememberable. And that's the magic of the mnemonic.

So say it loud, say it proud, and spread it 'round:

All Across Portland Our Streets Wind Around Mossy Yards. Traffic Snarls May Mean Jammed Cars, Cranky Motorists Making Minimal Headway. Harried Commuters Just Love Going Slow.

Now, you've got it!

(PS: will someone BoingBoing this? The fame, I craves it!)

Tags: pdx, Portland downtown streets, mnemonic devices, meme

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