Obscure geography trivia time: where would you find the steepest street in the world?

You might guess San Francisco. If you’re a Guinness Book of Records-reading smart alec, you might say New Zealand. As it turns out, you’d be wrong - probably. In fact, nobody seems quite sure which is the world’s steepest, and then there’s the problem of what exactly counts as a street anyway.

But we’ve looked into it, got out protractors out, and can now reveal the not-quite-scientifically-verified Google Sightseeing Top Six World’s Steepest Streets! And happily, the intrepid Street View car has struggled its way up (or down) all of them. Here they are, in reverse order:

6) Dornbush Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

In the East Hills area of the city, this quiet-looking residential street has been surveyed at a 31.98% grade - that’s a 17.7° slope. The Street View car missed out one section of the steepest part, which is one-way in the downhill direction. Check out the heavy-duty concrete staircase.

5) Maria Avenue, Spring Valley, California

Here’s a prime example of the “We’ve got a grid system and we’re damn well going to stick to it” school of city planning. Google’s Terrain view shows how the north-south street pattern has been laid out with no regard whatsoever to the steep contours - in fact you have to wonder whether the planners had ever even visited the site!

Maria Avenue marches straight up the southern slope of Dictionary Hill, attaining a surveyed grade of 32% (17.7°) just north of Chestnut Street. This section of road seems to be paved with concrete, and is cut off from the section above: Street View leaps straight across the gap, missing out this part of the road. The next block to the east would have been even steeper - Buena Vista Avenue is shown on the street map, but the builders understandably admitted defeat there.

4) Baxter Street and Fargo Street, Los Angeles, California

We’ll call this one a tie. These two streets are right next to one another in the Silver Lake district of LA, and both have been measured at 32%, but they get the nod over Maria Avenue on account of being altogether more exciting.

Baxter Street goes up and up and up… but then it goes down almost as steeply, giving the alarming impression that you’re about to drive off a cliff as you approach the summit.

Fargo Street is much shorter - only one block - but that’s plenty long enough for the cyclists who enter the annual Fargo Street Hill Climb. In 2008 one nutter rode up it 101 times in one day.

3) Eldred Street, Los Angeles, California

Just pipping Baxter and Fargo, with a 33% (18.3°) grade at its topmost end, LA’s steepest is in the Highland Park area. It rises 67m over only 400m, which presents some interesting challenges for its residents, according to an entertaining LA Times article.

2) Baldwin Street, Dunedin, New Zealand

Despite being listed in the Guinness Book of Records (and having that sign at the bottom), Baldwin Street doesn’t make the top slot. True, the top section attains an impressive 35% (19.3°) grade; true, it’s quite a slog walking up, even with the steps at the side¹; and true, sliding down it in a wheelie bin is a very bad idea; but it’s not the steepest. Unless anyone else knows better, the winner is…

1) Canton Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The signs at the top say “Do Not Enter”, and in slippery conditions you’d do well to heed them. Canton Avenue, a short cobbled street in Pittsburgh’s Beechview neighbourhood attains a whopping 37%, or 20.3°, gradient, making it the steepest public road in the United States - and, quite possibly, the world. This YouTube video shows what happens when you try and cycle up it, and this article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has more photos, giving an idea what it’s like to live there in winter. You can bet the residents of this house at the bottom of the hill are quite glad of that crash barrier out the front.

Honourable mentions

Here are a few other contenders that, for various reasons, didn’t quite “make the grade”…

West 28th Street, San Pedro, Los Angeles

Apparently this is officially the steepest LA street, at 33.3% (18.4°, just pipping Eldred), but looking at it on Street View, the steep portion is pathetically short. Next!

Ffordd Pen Llech, Harlech, Wales

This lane, said to be the steepest in Britain, plunges down the side of the steep hill topped by Harlech Castle. Sadly, Street View hasn’t reached rural north Wales yet, but there is high-resolution aerial imagery. The sign at the top claims it to be a 40% (21.8°) slope, but that seems dubious. And in any case, look at the sign just below the gradient warning: “Anaddas i fodur”. Unsuitable for motors. Disqualified on a technicality…

Waipio Valley Road, Hawaii

Now we’re talking: 45% gradient, or 24.2° - just look at those contour lines! Sadly, although this potential record-breaker is paved, it is restricted to 4WD vehicles - and in any case, it’s out in the wilds of the north of the Big Island, and with no houses on it you can hardly call this one a street. Still, it looks like quite a drive, judging by the pictures on this page.

March 17th is St. Patrick’s Day, which was originally the annual feast of the best known of Ireland’s patron saints¹, and today a worldwide celebration devoted to all things Irish.

Over here in Ireland and the UK, we have been known to celebrate with vast quantities of Guinness. Over in the US however, they like large scale annual celebrations involving crazy things like temporarily dying the Chicago River green (which sadly hasn’t yet been captured on Google Earth²).

But in today’s post we’ll be looking at some of the places that St. Patrick has found a permanent home in the USA.

This is St Patrick’s park in Indiana, where they have created a 400 metre long homage to their namesake, entirely in the medium of trees. Which is apt, given how much of the colour green gets bandied around on the 17th of March.

We’ve visited the original Dublin already on Google Sightseeing, but there are at least nine cities called Dublin in the USA alone!

See for yourself: Dublin, California; Dublin, Georgia; Dublin, Indiana; Dublin, New Hampshire; Dublin, North Carolina; Dublin, Ohio; Dublin, Pennsylvania; Dublin, Texas; and Dublin, Virginia.

In New York City we find St. Patrick’s Cathedral, a spectacular Neo-Gothic cathedral in midtown Manhattan that has become ingrained in Hollywood movie history, after being featured in several movies including 2002’s Spider-Man.

So, where else has St. Patrick and the influence of Ireland made a lasting impression around the world?

Happy Paddy’s day!

Thanks to Chris R.

Following the example of Alex’s Rudest Place Names post, I hereby present my top ten confusing place names.

For each of these sights, I picture a confused driver arriving in town, rolling down the car window and asking a passer-by  “Can you tell me where I am?”

10. Smile, KY

Driver: Can you tell me where I am?

Passer-by: Smile!

Driver: <grinning widely> I said, can you tell me where I am?

9.  Okay, OK

Driver: Can you tell me where I am?

Passer-by: Okay.

<pause>

Driver:  I said, can you tell me where I am?

Passer-by: Okay.

<pause>

… repeat ad nauseam.

8. Uncertain, TX

Driver: Can you tell me where I am?

Passer-by: Uncertain.

Driver: Oh, you’re lost as well?

7. Goodnight, TX

Driver: Can you tell me where I am?

Passer-by: Goodnight.

Driver: Huh? It’s 11 o’ clock in the morning.

6. Stop, GA

Driver: Can you tell me where I am?

Passer-by: Stop.

Driver: But I am stopped …

5. Nameless, TN

Driver: Can you tell me where I am?

Passer-by: Nameless.

Driver: No wonder I can’t find where I am on this map.

4. Panic, PA

Driver: Can you tell me where I am?

Passer-by: Panic.

Driver: Aaaagh. Won’t you just tell me where I am, I’m totally lost and I can’t take it any more…

3. Halfway, Yorkshire and Halfway, OR¹

Driver: Can you tell me where I am?

Passer-by: Halfway.

Driver: Halfway to where?

Passer-by: No, you’re all the way to Halfway.

Driver: I’m confused….

2. Yell, TN

Driver: Can you tell me where I am?

Passer-by: Yell.

Driver: CAN YOU TELL ME WHERE I AM?

1. Why, AZ

Driver: Can you tell me where I am?

Passer-by: Why.

Driver: Well, I’m lost. Where am I?

Passer-by: Why.

… repeat ad nauseam.

The residents of Sampsonia Way, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania have gone all out to welcome the visiting Google Street View car.

Firstly, they’ve brought in a marching band for the occasion!

Once the band get out the way, we can see that there’s also a massive welcome party underway, with confetti flying everywhere.

Further down the street and things start getting a little bizarre - a mad scientist is attacking some other scientists with a “love-inducing laser beam”.

Moving on, some marathon runners narrowly escape vehicular assassination.

Things take a turn for the seriously weird next, as we find a (clearly labelled) “oversized ham”. Is there somebody inside perhaps?

The meat theme continues on the corner, where we find a huge roast chicken.

As we pass “Fireman Way” we can see a fireman rescuing a cat. Obviously.

And finally at the end of that utterly odd little journey, an epic battle is underway!

You can see a map of all the things, and read more about them on the official Street With a View site. They also have a making-of video, which we can see in the street view images was filmed by this guy!

Thanks to Jake Peterson.

In an utterly shocking turn of events, a very-probably homeless/alcoholic/drug addicted¹ man has quite clearly passed-out in a doorway here in Philadelphia!

This piece of shocking privacy-invasion follows the discovery of a similar image last week in which a young man was pictured passed out on a grass verge². Despite the fact the man’s face wasn’t pictured, the sight of him sleeping on the roadside was enough to make him furious, and he made sure everyone knew all about it by venting his anger to Britain’s crappest newspaper.

The privacy issues surrounding the launch of Street View in Australia have been widely publicised, and in response Google Australia have been pro-actively removing potentially offensive images extremely quickly - this one was removed before it even appeared on Street View Fun.

Given that our Philadelphian is more likely to be drunk and homeless than a student from a nice Australian neighbourhood, you have to wonder whether this latest image will be removed as quickly, if at all³.

Thanks to Scott Roberts.