I’ve long been convinced that developers who name subdivisions and shopping centers simply select ‘one from column A’ and ‘one from column B’ from lists of generic names. Well, I’m not the only one who thinks that. This blogger actually made such a chart for Denver.
This blogger also notes that the less desirable the subdivision, the grander the name. I’ve noticed these same trends in our own neighborhood. We live in the original development using the name ‘Blackhawk’: the Fairways of Blackhawk. Our neighborhood does indeed have a golf course in the middle of it, which was originally its big selling point, so the name is pretty descriptive.
But then several other Blackhawk neighborhoods popped up nearby, and the names begin to get more generic: The Meadows of Blackhawk, The Park at Blackhawk and Lakeside at Blackhawk. The lake that’s in Lakeside is a small pond. Go figure.
The most recent addition has the cheapest homes and is furthest off the beaten track. Therefore, it has the grandest name: The Estates at Blackhawk.
At least the word ‘Blackhawk’ is somewhat appropriate to the area: high plains with lots of redtail hawks and owls. What gets me are the totally inappropriate names, namely any subdivision or shopping center in Central Texas containing the word ‘Brook’ or ‘Meadow’. We have creeks and fields, no brooks and meadows.
Categories: Odds and Ends