Apple Maps Endorses “LoDel” Neighborhood Moniker

Neighborhood names change. They always have and always will. Many neighborhood names that we don’t bat an eye at today were originally named that by housing developers, the estates of the wealthy people who once lived there, or other people making profits off the very neighborhoods they’re describing. People who have an interest in an area, often an economic interest, are influential in creating the language we use to describe those areas. Times Square was named after the New York Times! Its original name was Longacre Square.

While I don’t particularly love the name LoDel, it’s descriptive. It’s convenient. If LoDel were replacing a historic name in currency that’d be one thing, but this is a part of the LES that didn’t have its own specific neighborhood name (that I know of). If you say LoDel I know what area of the LES you’re talking about. Isn’t it nice to have to have names to refer to places? And I don’t own property or work in real estate.

It has always been and will always be BelDel