Addressing addresses ...

Real estate professionals say street names and even numbers can influence home buyers -- the "pretty" names sell better -- but there is also the important issue of ensuring the name is unique and not confusing to 9-1-1 responders, according to a report at FloridaToday.com.

There are about 19,000 named streets and sections of streets in Brevard County, Fla., the article states. "That means the county's emergency 9-1-1 mapping office is busy screening new names to prevent chaos for firefighters or police responding to calls. But it's not just emergency staff worrying about street names: Residents have to live with their address, and Realtors say houses on streets with pleasant names are easier to sell."

Prior to the 9-1-1 system, there were 147 version of Oak Street, a county 9-1-1 database coordinator said. And there are still 37 variations of oak in street names, 21 with coral, 19 with bay, 18 with sunset and 13 with variations of hickory and orange, according to the article. The 9-1-1 official noted that trees, flowers, fruits, birds and water themes are popular for street names. A mobile home park in Cocoa chose a Monopoly board game theme for its streets, using Boardwalk, Reading, Chance and Mediterranean, for example.

A real estate professional quoted in the article said that a prospective buyer once snubbed a home he liked because of the "666" street number of the home's address, while another noted that a street name was changed from South Patrick Drive to Riverside Drive and Riverview Drive because it "sounded more prestigious."

Some unusual local street names reported in the article: Soggy Bottom Drive, Whynot Road and Osmosis Drive.

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