In Puerto Rico, Creative Directions Make Up for Missing Addresses

 

In the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, more than 300,000 homes have no official address. This is because across many parts of the island, street names or numbers do not exist.

This has long been a problem in the city of Caguas, near Puerto Rico's capital San Juan. Firefighters in the city cheered when they recently received new maps that included rural neighborhoods. In the past, firefighters and others said they sometimes had to depend on taxi drivers for directions during emergencies.

But the lack of street names and numbers across the island has long been a problem for the U.S. territory, where internet map services are known to fail.

To get around the problem, people have learned to use different objects and landmarks¹ to help them reach their travel goals. For example, directions could involve a mango tree, a store, a park or a red farmhouse³.

It is even a problem in cities. In one area of the capital, some people look for a life-size Bigfoot doll sitting outside a building to help them find their way to a nearby hospital.

In Puerto Rico, it is not unusual to hear something like: "Turn right at kilometer 58 and make a left after a large hole. If you go past the big breadfruit tree, you've gone too far."

Even the country's famous Oso Blanco prison is often still used as a landmark² for giving directions even though the buildings were destroyed long ago.

The lack of addresses has made getting lost an acceptable⁴ and sometimes fun part of island life for some. But the coronavirus crisis⁵ – combined with recent natural disasters – have persuaded officials to seek new solutions to the problem.

With up to 60 percent of homes in some areas lacking an address, emergency workers cannot find people quickly to bring basic supplies or provide needed medical care.

"If you're not on a map, you don't exist," said Raúl Ríos, a former manager at the U.S. Postal⁶ Service. Ríos now leads iCasaPR, a nonprofit group that aims to standardize⁷ addresses across the island.

Puerto Rico's 78 localities⁸ and many government agencies still use separate databases⁹ that use different names for the same streets. They can also list the same addresses in different ways, such as 1013 or 10-13.

"It's like the Tower of Babel," Ríos said.

Four years ago, a young boy died in San Juan because it took an emergency medical vehicle 15 minutes to find his home in an area that did not have a standardized¹⁰ address, said Nazario Lugo. He is the president of Puerto Rico's Association of Emergency Responders. At the time of the incident, he led the city's emergency services.

He said the mother could not go outside to flag down emergency workers because she was giving medical aid to her son while speaking with a 911 operator on the phone.

As in other cities, officials in Caguas want to avoid such tragedies. Over the past decade, more than 100 roads have been named for the first time.

But there are many more that need identities and the naming process is not always easy, said Carmen Díaz, the city's planning director. For example, street names have to be completely unique and they are limited to 28 letters and numbers.

To help neighborhoods come up with ideas, Díaz provided books on Puerto Rican plants and animals. She also brought works by local writers. Díaz even suggested the name of the song "Calma" by Puerto Rican pop singer Pedro Capó.

Díaz told The Associated Press the use of landmarks to give people directions is not a long-term solution. "They've already changed the color of that pink house or cut down that tree," she said.

Words in This Story

address – n. the number of the house or name of the road where someone lives

landmark – n. a building or place that is easily recognized

doll - n. a child's toy in the shape of a person or baby

standardize– v. to make things of the same type have the same basic features

unique – adj. very different from other things

1 landmarks   

n.陆标( landmark的名词复数 )；目标；（标志重要阶段的）里程碑 ~ (in sth)；有历史意义的建筑物（或遗址）

参考例句：

• The book stands out as one of the notable landmarks in the progress of modern science. 这部著作是现代科学发展史上著名的里程碑之一。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The baby was one of the big landmarks in our relationship. 孩子的出世是我们俩关系中的一个重要转折点。 来自辞典例句

2 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。

3 farmhouse   

n.农场住宅（尤指主要住房）

参考例句：

• We fell for the farmhouse as soon as we saw it.我们对那所农舍一见倾心。
• We put up for the night at a farmhouse.我们在一间农舍投宿了一夜。

4 acceptable   

adj.可接受的，合意的，受欢迎的

参考例句：

• The terms of the contract are acceptable to us.我们认为这个合同的条件可以接受。
• Air pollution in the city had reached four times the acceptable levels.这座城市的空气污染程度曾高达可接受标准的四倍。

5 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

6 postal   

adj.邮政的，邮局的

参考例句：

• A postal network now covers the whole country.邮路遍及全国。
• Remember to use postal code.勿忘使用邮政编码。

7 standardize   

v.使符合标准，使标准化

参考例句：

• We will extend and standardize legal services and provide effective legal aid.拓展和规范法律服务，积极开展法律援助。
• There is a drive both to standardise components and to reduce the number of models on offer.正在为实现零部件标准化和减少推出的型号数量而努力。

8 localities   

（出事的）位置，地区，地点( locality的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This measure is suited to some localities, but not to others. 这个措施有地方适用，有地方不适用。
• Rheumatism affects people living in damp localities. 住在潮湿地区的人易患风湿病。

9 databases   

n.资料库( database的名词复数 )；数据库；（贮存在计算机中的）数据库

参考例句：

• For example, this problem crops up frequently when querying databases. 例如，在查询数据库时，这一问题频频出现。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Databases of abstracts would eventually become redundant. 文摘数据库最终将成为多余。 来自辞典例句

10 standardized   

adj.标准化的

参考例句：

• We use standardized tests to measure scholastic achievement. 我们用标准化考试来衡量学生的学业成绩。
• The parts of an automobile are standardized. 汽车零件是标准化了的。