Peculiar Streets around the World

1Baldwin Street (New Zealand)
World’s steepest street

Baldwin Street, in a quiet suburban part of New Zealand’s southern city of Dunedin, is reputed to be the world’s steepest street. It is located in the suburb of North East Valley, 3.5 kilometres northeast of Dunedin’s city centre.A short straight street of some 350 metres length, Baldwin Street runs east from the valley of the Lindsay Creek up the side of Signal Hill. Its lower reaches are of only moderate steepness, and the surface is asphalt, but the upper reaches of this cul-de-sac are far steeper, and surfaced in concrete, for ease of maintenance (tar seal would flow down the slope on a warm day) and for safety in Dunedin’s frosty winters. At its maximum, the slope of Baldwin Street is approximately 1:2.86 (19° or 35%) – that is, for every 2.86 metres travelled horizontally, the elevation rises by 1 metre. The street’s steepness was unintentional. As with many other parts of Dunedin, and indeed New Zealand, streets were laid out in a grid pattern with no consideration for the terrain, usually by planners in London.

2Ebenezer Place (Scotland):
World’s shortest street

Ebenezer Place, in Wick, Caithness, Scotland, is credited as being the world’s shortest street in the Guinness Book of Records at 2.06m (6′ 9″). There is a single address on the street, 1 Ebenezer Place, which was constructed in 1883. The owner of the building, a hotel at the time, was instructed to paint a name on the shortest side of the hotel. It was officially declared a street in 1887.

3Parliament Street (Exeter, England)
World’s narrowest street

Parliament Street is a 50m long street in Exeter, England, which links the High Street to Waterbeer Lane and dates from the 14th century. It was formerly called Small Lane and was renamed when Parliament was derided by the city council for passing the 1832 Reform Bill. The street is approximately 1.2m (45″) at its widest and less than 0.64m (25″) at its narrowest, which makes it, according to the Guinness Book of Records, the world’s narrowest street.