This is 99% invisible.

I'm Roman Mars.

In 2005, I took a job at WBEZ in Chicago, and I was so excited to be moving there.

I was excited about the job, of course, but I was also very excited about the grid.

The streets of Chicago and the address numbering system are beautiful.

Starting from the 00 access point downtown, the streets conform to a rigid grid pattern

where the major streets are exactly one mile apart and have address numbers which are in

multiples of 800.

You don't really have to be able to picture this, but I know that if you know it,

you're nodding your head vigorously, but just know that it's amazing,

and I was mesmerized by it.

So much so that I made flashcards with Chicago street names on one side

and the corresponding address number on the other so that my wife and I could quiz ourselves

on the 2000 mile road trip from San Francisco to Chicago.

Yes, I was always like this.

Division is 1200 north.

Armageddon is 2000 north and therefore one mile north of division.

After living in the jungle of San Francisco streets for years,

the thought of moving to a place where people plan the city to help people know where they were

and where they were going sooth my lizard brain and gave me peace.

As humans have developed cities and built environments, we have also needed to develop ways

to find our way through them.

...