Chicago Grid Lab

φ rescales entropy so that a perfect four-way grid scores 1 and streets pointing every which way score 0 (Boeing 2019). Entropy runs from 1.386 for a perfect grid to 3.584 for uniform bearings.

Which way the streets run

Size and shape

Segment lengths (log scale)

One address block is 100 house numbers, or ⅛ mile (660 ft), on Chicago's 800-per-mile grid.

Intersections

Nodes come from segment endpoints snapped to 1 ft, as in chicago_streets_stats.py. A degree-2 node is where one segment hands off to the next. Area selections cut segments at the edge, which shows up as extra dead ends.

Shortest streets

Ordinary streets only: every segment a surface public street (class 2, 3, 4, 5 or 7, normal status), no ramps, turn lanes, access roads, busways or airport roads. Length is the distance between the street's two far ends, as in the project's shortest-street list. Click a row to see the street.

Longest streets here

Click a row to show that street on its own.