Seattles odd naming practices Intersections like Ravenna Avenue and Ravenna Boulevard and Pike Street and Pike Place mentioned here are not at all remarked upon in Seattle theyre quite commonplace In Seattle avenues must only run North and South and streets must only run East and West This means that when an avenue or a street turns it is almost always changed to a Place or a Boulevard or a Way Way is usually reserved for streets that cut through the grid at an angle while Place and Boulevard is used for streets that make a near rightangle turn like Pike Street when it turns North because the hill is too steep to continue West to Western Ave also there is a public market in the way or Ravenna Ave when it turns West to take a scenic detour around Ravenna Park and terminates at Green Lake Or uncountable instances when a street or an avenue must turn to avoid a steep hill or otherwise inconvenient topography which Seattle has in spades