When the Pilgrims originally layed out the cart paths here in Massachusetts, they didn't really have the concept of traffic management and urban development down to a science yet. Unfortunately, the roads today in a lot of our little coastal towns are just wider, paved versions of the cart paths in many cases.

In my town, the major industry of days gone by was shipbuilding, specifically huge sailing ships for whaling. Today, the waterfront still is layed out the way it was when there were many more active commercial shipyards. That's where everything radiates from in town. The other area that has been built out over time is the area along the river, where the farms were located that fed the shipyard workers, and where the timber from inland traveled to the mills, before going to the shipyards.

We are blessed to be in a beautiful town on the ocean, but, the downside is...we have 3 Harbor Roads in town, 3 Shore Roads, 2 Water Streets, a couple Bay View, Harbor View, Water View, Ocean View etc roads. If you tell someone you're on Harbor Road for example, you have to also specify which part of town you're in. It's quite an adventure for the Post Office. Sometimes giving directions sounds like an old "Bert 'n I" skit: "take a right at the rock that looks like a bear, and then a left at the bear that looks like a rock, then go down the shore road until, wait a minute... no, come to think of it, you can't get there from here"