In the same way that there are tips for improving lap times at certain tracks, what are some tips that everyone should know before they visit your hometown?
Perhaps there’s a stretch of highway that should be avoided at all cost, or maybe there are a few stoplights that just had some cameras installed. Whatever the case is, what should we …
My top driving tip for visiting Central Florida?
Don't.
Detroit: Go faster. Seriously. 85 mph is what it takes on the freeways here. and GTFOO the left lane.
Universal driving rules:
Drive as fast as most around you.
Miss your exit? So what there is another one down the road to turn around on.
Preplan where you are going.
Heads up look out your windows and not just your E36 M3ty bug covered windshield.
When I was a young man (1985) some old southern redneck dude commented to my girlfriend/wife and I when I mentioned we liked to go downtown Chicago for events and restaurants.
"I wouldn't go to Chicago unless I was packing a gun".
Today I might suggest that.
My best advice for getting through Atlanta:
- Head south on I-75 till you get to Florida.
- Head west on I-10 till you get to Alabama.
- Head north on I-65 till you get to Birmingham.
- Head East on I-59 till you get to Tennessee.
- Head north on I-75 and continue your journey without having to deal with Atlanta traffic!
DO NOT STOP IN THE ROAD.
My home town is River Ridge, La. Its right next to New Orleans.
My advice is don't drive in New Orleans. If the carjackers don't get you the potholes will.
My hometown of Hamilton, Ohio
1. Don't make eye contact
2. Be vigilant for random druggies stumbling out into traffic at any time of day.
3. If you hear a car backfiring it's actually gunshots, duck and get the hell out of there.
4. Stop by Goldstar chili on your way out of town, ignore that garbage ass skyline chili unless you like the garbage people it attracts and having the runs.
Metro Cleveland:
W 25th St never becomes E 25th St
In most cities, if you found yourself on W25th St and you drove in the correct direction long enough, it would eventually become E25th St. But, not in Metro Cleveland and it's numbering system from the early 1900's...
In central downtown Cleveland the streets are named after the Great Lakes. One is Ontario Street where the O is also a zero. So, if you are on W25th St you are 25 blocks west of Ontario St or zero. There is also a E25th St which is 25 blocks to the east. This means that W25th is 50 blocks away from E25th.
As this system travels outside the Cleveland City limits, some suburbs adopted the system and some did not so the number system may end and then start back up. The system extends into the 200's to the west and to the 300's to the east.
If you were looking for the main entrance to The Cleveland Clinic which is on E95th and you were actually on W95th, you would be 190 blocks away from your intended destination or generally a 20 minute drive away.
Windows up, lock doors, stare straight ahead...
In Seattle, the Express Lanes are not for HOV only, single occupancy cars can use them if you are going past downtown. They flip NS direction around 12:00PM, (so they are open southbound in the morning, northbound after noon). They also don't last long enough, but they are better than nothing.
We also have a stretch of HOV heading out East (on the toll bridge, 520) that is for 3+ occupants, not 2 like everywhere else in the entire city, for the span of about 5 miles. If you don't know it's an easy place to pick up a ticket.
Also, since Seattle is surrounded by water, you have to plan for bridges, and that means bottlenecks. 2 miles away can take 30 minutes.
Don't blink or you'll miss it. 
It's a pretty small town.
North Metro Detroit:
Secret addressing system of Subtract 5, divide by 2
When it first became a city, Detroit was originally laid out as a grid. As you head north in this grid you eventually come to 5 Mile Road. One mile farther north you come to 6th Mile Road, etc. This 6 Mile Road is 6 miles from the city center. 8 Mile Road, made famous by rapper Eminem, is the North Border of the city of Detroit. This system continues into the northern suburbs all the way to 38 Mile Road.
Say you’re invited to a graduation at the International Academy of Macomb at 42755 Romeo Plank Rd.
Take the first two numbers of the address (42) and subtract 5 (because the first "mile road" is 5 Mile Road.)
That equals 37.
Now divide 37 by 2.
Your magic number is 18.5, which means the school is at approximately 18 1⁄2 Mile Road on Romeo Plank.
This was very handy a long time ago but now GPS just takes you there.
jharry3 said:My home town is River Ridge, La. Its right next to New Orleans.
My advice is don't drive in New Orleans. If the carjackers don't get you the potholes will.
I've spent a lifetime driving the roads of Metro Cleveland and Metro Detroit which both have TERRIBLE roads/pavement and New Orleans is worse than both of them!
Datsun310Guy said:When I was a young man (1985) some old southern redneck dude commented to my girlfriend/wife and I when I mentioned we liked to go downtown Chicago for events and restaurants.
"I wouldn't go to Chicago unless I was packing a gun".
Today I might suggest that.
Around 87/88 I picked up a couple friends from Pekin & head to one of the towns on the south side of Chicago for a freestyle contest. I don't remember where, but it didn't seem like too sketchy of a place. After it finished every one said they were heading down to the Loop to ride, so of course we wanted to go too. Not having a map, I just aimed towards the Sears Tower & headed off.
We were in my dad's 79 Chevy 1/2-ton: white with matching topper, aluminum running boards, towing mirrors with matching CB antennas on each one. So you can imagine the surprise to all of us, as well as everyone else standing around, when when made a wrong turn into one of the housing projects. Fortunately there was no drama, but we didn't stick around either.
The secret of driving my hometown? If you're from out of town & looking for someone just stop at Casey's. They'll know where to find them.
Oh, and don't speed or run the(single) stoplight if the cop is on duty.
Tip 1: Navigating Lubbock, Texas is pretty easy. It's laid out on a grid, enclosing a loop, and split by I-27. Most of the named streets are in alphabetical order, with a couple of cycles.
"Get on/off the loop" has to be the most common phrase in driving directions here.
The old saying is that you can get anywhere in Lubbock in 15 minutes. It's still mostly true.
Tip 2: When opening or closing car doors, actually hold on to them. Wind can be a problem.
There's one stop light and 1300 people.
I guess....make sure to not run the one stop light?
Two lane mountain roads have pull-off areas for a reason, even if there are no signs asking you to - please, please pull off if you have even one car on your tail. Especially if you're taking it easy and seeing the sights, but even if you're going the posted limit I guarantee the locals won't be going that slow.
Related, when there is a rare short third passing lane on these same mountain roads, the big signs that say "KEEP RIGHT - Except To Pass" are there for a reason as well. Please :)
John Welsh said:North Metro Detroit:
Secret addressing system of Subtract 5, divide by 2
When it first became a city, Detroit was originally laid out as a grid. As you head north in this grid you eventually come to 5 Mile Road. One mile farther north you come to 6th Mile Road, etc. This 6 Mile Road is 6 miles from the city center. 8 Mile Road, made famous by rapper Eminem, is the North Border of the city of Detroit. This system continues into the northern suburbs all the way to 38 Mile Road.
Say you’re invited to a graduation at the International Academy of Macomb at 42755 Romeo Plank Rd.
Take the first two numbers of the address (42) and subtract 5 (because the first "mile road" is 5 Mile Road.)
That equals 37.
Now divide 37 by 2.
Your magic number is 18.5, which means the school is at approximately 18 1⁄2 Mile Road on Romeo Plank.
This was very handy a long time ago but now GPS just takes you there.
I just checked with my wife (Macomb native), and it didn't work at least with her grandma's house (also five digits), but all of the north-south roads near her seem to fit. Her house's road is east-west, so maybe those use a different formula?
Tips for getting around Kitchener-Waterloo and Cambridge, use navigation as none of our roads run on a grid and some of them cross over each other at multiple points as they meander through the cities. Hot tip for the out of towners, Weber St. is pronounced Wee-ber, not Web-ber and there is a North, South, West and East as you drive from the mostly West side of Waterloo to the East side of Kitchener, if you're going to an address on that street take note of the which one it is exactly. Roads also randomly change names as you cross intersections. Have fun, good luck!
In reply to cyow5 :
Only works to tell how far north you have to go of the city.
Only works on North/South Rds
In reply to cyow5 :
correct, it only works to locate an address on a north-south road. there is no such formula for east-west.
Just keep driving. Nothing to see here....
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