Developers Look For The Road Name Less Traveled

In the fast-growing region in and around Charlotte, NC, developers are having a difficult time looking for unused road names for their subdivisions. "In Mecklenburg and surrounding counties, it's a chore to find unused street names. Cabarrus has more than 4,100 recognized names; Iredell has up to 4,965; and heavily populated Gaston counts 6,556. All of these counties are adding scores of roads each year as developers add subdivisions. "Just forget anything named after a tree, a flower or a bird," said north Mecklenburg developer Doug Boone, founder of Boone Communities Inc. "They're all pretty much long gone. Oh, and don't forget the word 'quail,' it's gone too." The problem isn't a shortage of words. It's that so many builders want to use the same or similar ones."