STREET NAMES: You live where?

Pop culture, themes, people inspire labels of city avenues, neighborhooods

dale dombrowski/viewJamie Metz as Princess Leia, center, is surrounded by Darth Vader and characters from "Star Wars." A group of streets in the neighborhood located north of Russell Road between Sandhill Road and Mountain Vista Street, are named after characters from the famous epics. photo illustration by dale dombrowski and F. Andrew Taylor/viewDevelopers often turn to themes as they try to come up with creative and unique street names. This neighborhood near Durango Drive and Patrick Lane features a fishing theme with street, such as Tackle Box Court, Fly Fisher Street and and Canvas Vest Court. dale dombrowski/viewJamie Metz as Princess Leia, center, is surrounded by Darth Vader and characters from "Star Wars." A group of streets in the neighborhood located north of Russell Road between Sandhill Road and Mountain Vista Street, are named after characters from the famous epics. Advertisement

The absurd and ingenious premise that built Las Vegas from the desert up involved entertainment and the power of theme. But it's not just on the Strip that Las Vegans can find this formula at work.

Each year, approximately 1,600 new streets are added in the valley, and names both funny and forgettable make the list. This year's most notable addition: Hanky Panky Street.

"You have to turn on Highway to Heaven to get there," said Maureen Cooper, owner of Official Street Guide at www.streetguide.com. "It's not so much the name, but you put the two together and it's kind of funny." The two streets are in the 89131 ZIP code, east of Centennial hills and north of the Beltway.

It's a fairly common occurrence for streets within a neighborhood to be themed, much like Spring Valley's Treasure Cove subdivision, a small private community where Black Beard and Treasure Ship Avenues silently hint at far-off tales of adventure and swashbuckling.

Some street names might have been inspired by book or movie titles.

Southwest Las Vegas resident Darren Michael's girlfriend lives on Prince of Tides Court, and although he professes love for the film, he said he does not know the street name's origin.

"I don't know where it came from, but I dig it," Michael said. "There are a lot of streets in this area that have similar names. The cross street up there is Fly Fisher Street, and I know there are some other water-themed names in here. Kinda interesting, if you think about it."

The tranquil, quiet subdivision is well-suited by names such as Tackle Box Court and Creel Street, Michael said.

"This is a nice area," Michael said. "Very homey and peaceful ... so maybe the names have something to do with that. Maybe they somehow set the tone."

Resident Bill Gollher has lived in his Spring Valley home on Delbonita Avenue for more than 14 years.

"When I first moved in, I remember thinking that the word itself is beautiful," Gollher said. "It was years later that I found out it's meaning. It's actually Spanish, and it means very pretty."

Joe, also from Spring Valley, didn't want his last name mentioned, but joked that Dorinda Avenue was only one of many female names used within his neighborhood.

"I don't know the real origins or process of naming, but I like to think that a politician probably sat down and dictated streets according to the names of past girlfriends," he said. "You never know about these things."

"My Way" wasn't just a song done by Frank Sinatra, it's a Spring Valley-area street that's rumored to be named after the popular ballad. Unfortunately, the actual street can be difficult to locate because vandals keep stealing the sign.

When it comes to naming streets, the task falls to developers. They submit a list to the Las Vegas Fire Department, which then approves or denies names following the criteria laid out by the Pink Book -- a supplement to Title 13 of the municipal code. Names then go on a temporary map and are approved by the planning commission. Names still might be changed at this point, such as if a name sounds similar to an existing street.

"You want your emergency services to get to you," said Doug Rankin, planning supervisor for Las Vegas' planning and development department. "Since it's communication by radio, you don't want homonyms."

Likewise, the fire department is not allowed to correct misspellings.

"We don't ask people why they spelled them the way they did," said Tim Syzmanski, public information officer for the Las Vegas Fire Department. "We figure they spelled them that way for a reason. We're not spell checkers."

Spelling is a challenge for some developers in the valley. Mobster Bugsy Siegel has his own street, but it's misspelled: Bugsy Siegal Circle. So was Saphire Stone. In the spirit of anything goes, Comanche is spelled two different ways, and Paiute, three.

Across the valley, developers have come up with interesting themes for naming streets.

Streets have been themed after characters from "Star Wars" -- Vader, Leia, Skywalker, Tarkin and Kinobe -- in the southeastern part of the valley, and after composers -- Schumann, Vivaldi, Mozart, Strauss and Brahms -- as you get close to Summerlin.

You know you're near a street named National Park when you see Wolves Den, Bear Basin, Wildcat Springs and Grizzly Creek.

Severe weather abounds just west of Interstate 15, where two streets are named Tempest and Blizzard. Summerlin residents get a rainbow of color with streets such as Ivory Cliff, Red Dawn Sky, Silver Pyramid, Crimson, Black Ledge and Pink Cloud.

In the southwest, you'll find more ocean-like names: Smuggler's Beach, Barnacle Bay and Sea Captain.

Beatriz Levy, a loan officer, said she likes seeing the street signs that have ocean-themed names.

"It makes you feel good," she said. "It makes you want to go to the beach."

We wonder when someone will come up with the ultimate street name for Las Vegas: Megabucks.