Los Angeles exalts the freeway, numbers and names preceded by that exclusive article the.  The 405, The 101.  On multiple occasions I have heard case made for these freeways being handled thusly because of their actual names, The Hollywood, The Harbor, and so on.  But just as the Native Americans would give a river many names dependent on its mutable qualities, so the freeways change: Pasadena experiences the scourge of downtown and becomes the Harbor.  While somewhat confusing, this gives a traveler some bearing; more often than not directions will be given numerically, and if in southern California, always preceded by a the. Meanwhile, we treat our freeways like dirt.
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Los Angeles exalts the freeway, numbers and names preceded by that exclusive article the.  The 405, The 101.  On multiple occasions I have heard case made for these freeways being handled thusly because of their actual names, The Hollywood, The Harbor, and so on. 


But just as the Native Americans would give a river many names dependent on its mutable qualities, so the freeways change: Pasadena experiences the scourge of downtown and becomes the Harbor.  While somewhat confusing, this gives a traveler some bearing; more often than not directions will be given numerically, and if in southern California, always preceded by a the.

Meanwhile, we treat our freeways like dirt.

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  1. tenderloingeographicsociety posted this