John Schmidt is rapping about honorary street names over on the WBEZ blog. Chicago has about 1400 of them, but most were bestowed in recent years. Before the trend caught on, the city used to change street names with more regularity. A messy episode or two prompted a change in thinking and now honorary names are thrown all over as secondary brown signs, mostly to keep constituents appeased. So, unless you're Obama or someone of great national import, Schmidt suggests befriending a developer if you fancy a new street in your honor. [WBEZ, photo: Joe Koczera]
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