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Ragged Ass Road (Yellowknife)

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736: 36: 27: 555: 359:. Reflecting on their circumstances, Rocher joked that the street should be named "Ragged Ass Road" since they were all "ragged ass broke". " felt he should be able to name it because he owned six of the nine lots on the road and he thought he could name it appropriately", his son recalled later. The men put up a sign that night. The term's use as a place name might not have been original. There was reportedly a Ragged Ass Mine on the lake in earlier years. 543: 1189: 1308: 604:"Residents of Canada's Dingle Bingle Hill Terrace, Cheapside Street, Ragged Ass Road and Bastard Ward consider yourselves warned: There is a small but noteworthy negative effect between a badly named street and the perceived market value of homes or businesses that reside on it ..." Conversely, a well-regarded street name, e.g. 247:
The southern terminus is at Brock Drive, three blocks east of School Draw. From there it follows a north-northeast heading, bending more to the northeast midway along its 150-metre (490 ft) length, then back to its original heading as it reaches its north terminus at Hamilton Drive. Along with
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Lou Rocher died in May 2013 and was remembered around Yellowknife most prominently for giving Ragged Ass Road its name. Despite that, his family noted, at that time the city still had not installed official street signs with the name. As of 2015, there are city signs at both ends of the road.
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to their posts, and gift shops in the city started selling replicas. During the 1980s, Rocher clashed with Yellowknife's municipal government over a survey of the area. At one point he even blocked the street off to keep city employees away.
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to either cover it up or turn it inside out for the duration of the flight since the airline was "family-friendly". He chose the former option, but when the incident made national news, WestJet apologized. When it did so, it posted to its
244:. The terrain is flat, at approximately 160 metres (520 ft) in elevation, reflecting the proximity of the lake. The neighborhood is at the south end of the city's Old Town, on a peninsula projecting into the lake's Yellowknife Bay. 222:
While widely used, the name was somewhat controversial. It was not officially recognized by the city with signposts until the mid-2010s, after Rocher's death. It has been described as one of the most famous streets in Canada. Singer
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Ragged Ass Road is in a residential area midway between the intersection of Franklin (50th) Avenue, Yellowknife's main street, and School Draw Avenue, its lake shore road, and Yellowknife Bay on the north arm of
211:. Its name started as a joke in 1970 by resident Lou Rocher, who owned much of the property along it at the time, and his friends. At the time the street had been known as "Privy Road" due to the large number of 474:. That's one you'd never see on the Queen City map ... The neighborhood was residential, with browned-out grass hugging up to the road and utility wires hanging low overhead. I smelled fishy water and 317:, only to resume afterwards. At that time most development was on the peninsula, in the area known today as Old Town. The road may have started as a narrow alley where residents cut wood to building the 362:
The name caught on, if not formally. Officially the city still considered the street to have no name, but Rocher made his own signs, replacing them after visiting tourists
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mailed a Ragged Ass Road sign back to Yellowknife's city government after having confiscated it from a homeowner as inappropriate for public display. Eight years later a
795: 466:, a forensic anthropologist like her creator, trails a suspect from downtown Yellowknife to Ragged Ass Road on a cold morning, giving her a chance to describe it: 432:, for two years. Yellowknife city officials made it a point to meet with WestJet officials to come to a common understanding: the T-shirts are a tourist draw. 520:'s Institute of Housing and Mobility, it is claimed that this street is an example of a "poorly named street ... create negative shift in market value." 582:
and only experiences white nights, where the sun dips just below the horizon for a few hours of twilight in the summertime, rather than the full midnight sun.
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after the street. The title track of the album described a place "Where the shore fires burn out on a new frontier" and had the chorus "Oh did you find the
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One night near the end of 1970, in which he and fellow prospectors had worked hard but found far less, he was drinking with some of them in the family
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season yielded little income, convincing residents that they were "ragged ass broke", they decided that that should be the name of the street.
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The city was not unique in its reluctance to embrace the name despite its popularity. In 2004, a small town in the U.S. state of
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in the yards or topping the fences ... Every house had at least one outbuilding, a rusted tank, and a mound of firewood.
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The construction date of Ragged Ass Road is unknown. Yellowknife was significantly settled only after a 1935
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native Lou Rocher settled in the area, it existed and was known unofficially as Privy Road due to the many
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of Ragged Ass as "northern hodgepodge".) Addresses are in the range of 3901–3921, following Yellowknife's
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on the street. On them he built homes and cabins, often letting people in need live there.
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account a photo of a Ragged Ass Road sign that had been on the office wall of its
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While the midnight sun is often associated with Yellowknife, it is south of the
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mud and sensed a lake nearby ...The newer homes looked like they'd been
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in Yellowknife. She liked the city so much she set part of her next novel,
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residences of modern construction and associated outbuildings. Some small
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The Times Behind the Signs: The History Behind Yellowknife's Street Names
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Unpaved street in Yellowknife, capital of Canada's Northwest Territories
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shutters and doors ... The older ones resembled cottages at a
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exteriors painted with murals or images taken from nature. Metal
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so frequently that the city has had them welded to their posts.
392:" Down on Ragged Ass Road". It added to the road's allure as a 1188: 491: 321:
that carried freight to and from the growing settlement across
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outcrop in the middle of the west side of the street, all the
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Rocher made his living through several vocations, selling
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According to Murtaza Haider, professor and director of
813: 640:"3902 – 3920 Ragged Ass RD, Yellowknife – Postal Code" 956:"WestJet apologizes after Ragged Ass Road shirt flap" 992: 847: 845: 313:. After a few years, development was interrupted by 1144: 1031: 508:and smokestacks. Whirligigs, plastic animals, and 948: 842: 1358: 775:. Yellowknife, NWT: Gallery of the Midnight Sun 446:, a producer of the American television series 1074:"Kebabble: Turkey's costly signs of the times" 898: 199:residential street in the Old Town section of 1215: 700: 698: 415:with a Ragged Ass Road T-shirt was told by a 231:after it, including a song about the street. 823:option at the ACME Mapper link given above. 1222: 1208: 731: 729: 695: 675: 462:, there. In one scene her main character, 793: 787: 671: 669: 667: 665: 663: 661: 659: 657: 57:Poverty experienced by local prospectors 934:"Tom Cochrane – Ragged Ass Road lyrics" 904: 794:Wilkinson, Tandi (September 28, 2012). 726: 1359: 1139: 1037: 982: 852:Hudson, Katherine (October 17, 2012). 851: 832: 1203: 1071: 1065: 1053:. CanWest MediaWorks Publications Inc 654: 884:. Yellowknife: Crescent Publishing. 879: 678:"Ragged Ass Road pioneer remembered" 591:A reference to the American city of 905:Malcolm, David (October 18, 2011). 854:"Ragged Ass Road gets a rough ride" 13: 1372:Roads in the Northwest Territories 1133: 1072:Zahir, Fazile (February 4, 2008). 998: 14: 1388: 1181: 1009:Talk of the Nation Science Friday 676:Whitehouse, Simon (May 3, 2013). 40:View north from Brock Drive, 2015 1338:Tibbitt to Contwoyto Winter Road 1306: 1187: 1004:"Meet the Brains Behind 'Bones'" 553: 541: 255:With the exception of one large 34: 25: 1298:Highway 10 (Inuvik–Tuktoyaktuk) 1109: 1043: 873: 741:(Map). 1:6,000. Cartography by 598: 585: 572: 518:Toronto Metropolitan University 275:grow among them. (In her novel 480:assembled from mail-order kits 452:, had attended the NorthWords 248:its neighboring streets it is 1: 642:. canadapostalcodes.net. 2015 623: 1012:(Interview). Interviewed by 7: 1278:Highway 6 (Fort Resolution) 534: 215:along it. When a difficult 10: 1393: 525:the signs have been stolen 304: 1315: 1304: 1245: 1155:, Pocket Books. pp.  1101:: CS1 maint: unfit URL ( 593:Charlotte, North Carolina 285:described the prevailing 234: 182: 177: 169: 161: 124: 113: 95: 87: 79: 71: 61: 53: 45: 33: 24: 1367:Transport in Yellowknife 743:Natural Resources Canada 738:Atlas of Canada Toporama 565: 83:150 m (490 ft) 1343:Tuktoyaktuk Winter Road 1263:Highway 3 (Yellowknife) 486:. Prefab windows. Faux- 441:forensic anthropologist 426:chief executive officer 366:. Eventually they were 252:for its entire length. 1273:Highway 5 (Fort Smith) 859:Northern News Services 710:(Map). Cartography by 682:Northern News Services 514: 470:A sign on a rock said 382:named his third album 293:numbering system. Its 146:62.46063°N 114.35256°W 1258:Highway 2 (Hay River) 1253:Highway 1 (Mackenzie) 1238:Northwest Territories 1018:National Public Radio 468: 263:along the street are 205:Northwest Territories 1346:(permanently closed) 1288:Highway 8 (Dempster) 1268:Highway 4 (Ingraham) 1196:at Wikimedia Commons 1153:Simon & Schuster 1119:. Cbc.ca. 2015-12-22 880:Heal, Tyler (2007). 747:Government of Canada 151:62.46063; -114.35256 1293:Highway 9 (Tłı̨chǫ) 714:. ACME Laboratories 287:architectural style 142: /  75:City of Yellowknife 21: 1232:Roads and highways 964:. October 16, 2012 821:Google Street View 800:The Song I Live By 464:Temperance Brennan 407:man flying out of 394:tourist attraction 342:commercial fishing 281:, American writer 19: 1377:Streets in Canada 1354: 1353: 1283:Highway 7 (Liard) 1192:Media related to 1147:Bones Are Forever 891:978-0-9739420-0-2 773:"Ragged Ass Road" 560:Canada portal 459:Bones Are Forever 454:literary festival 435:The year before, 278:Bones Are Forever 190: 189: 1384: 1310: 1239: 1233: 1224: 1217: 1210: 1201: 1200: 1191: 1177: 1175: 1173: 1150: 1128: 1127: 1125: 1124: 1113: 1107: 1106: 1100: 1092: 1090: 1088: 1069: 1063: 1062: 1060: 1058: 1047: 1041: 1035: 1029: 1028: 1026: 1024: 996: 990: 980: 974: 973: 971: 969: 952: 946: 945: 943: 941: 930: 924: 923: 921: 919: 902: 896: 895: 877: 871: 870: 868: 866: 849: 840: 830: 824: 817: 811: 810: 808: 806: 791: 785: 784: 782: 780: 769: 758: 757: 755: 753: 733: 724: 723: 721: 719: 702: 693: 692: 690: 688: 673: 652: 651: 649: 647: 636: 617: 602: 596: 589: 583: 576: 558: 557: 556: 548:Roads portal 546: 545: 544: 417:flight attendant 405:British Columbia 344:, but primarily 325:. By 1957, when 323:Great Slave Lake 242:Great Slave Lake 157: 156: 154: 153: 152: 147: 143: 140: 139: 138: 135: 38: 29: 22: 18: 1392: 1391: 1387: 1386: 1385: 1383: 1382: 1381: 1357: 1356: 1355: 1350: 1333:Ragged Ass Road 1311: 1302: 1241: 1237: 1231: 1228: 1194:Ragged Ass Road 1184: 1171: 1169: 1167: 1136: 1134:Further reading 1131: 1122: 1120: 1115: 1114: 1110: 1094: 1093: 1086: 1084: 1070: 1066: 1056: 1054: 1049: 1048: 1044: 1036: 1032: 1022: 1020: 997: 993: 981: 977: 967: 965: 954: 953: 949: 939: 937: 932: 931: 927: 917: 915: 903: 899: 892: 878: 874: 864: 862: 850: 843: 831: 827: 818: 814: 804: 802: 792: 788: 778: 776: 771: 770: 761: 751: 749: 735: 734: 727: 717: 715: 704: 703: 696: 686: 684: 674: 655: 645: 643: 638: 637: 630: 626: 621: 620: 603: 599: 590: 586: 577: 573: 568: 554: 552: 542: 540: 537: 484:Aluminum siding 472:Ragged Ass Road 385:Ragged Ass Road 374:In 1995 former 307: 273:deciduous trees 237: 193:Ragged Ass Road 150: 148: 144: 141: 136: 133: 131: 129: 128: 41: 20:Ragged Ass Road 17: 12: 11: 5: 1390: 1380: 1379: 1374: 1369: 1352: 1351: 1349: 1348: 1340: 1335: 1330: 1328:Deh Cho Bridge 1325: 1319: 1317: 1313: 1312: 1305: 1303: 1301: 1300: 1295: 1290: 1285: 1280: 1275: 1270: 1265: 1260: 1255: 1249: 1247: 1243: 1242: 1227: 1226: 1219: 1212: 1204: 1198: 1197: 1183: 1182:External links 1180: 1179: 1178: 1165: 1135: 1132: 1130: 1129: 1108: 1064: 1042: 1030: 991: 975: 947: 925: 897: 890: 872: 841: 825: 812: 786: 759: 725: 694: 653: 627: 625: 622: 619: 618: 597: 584: 570: 569: 567: 564: 563: 562: 550: 536: 533: 510:ceramic gnomes 437:crime novelist 430:Gregg Saretsky 306: 303: 236: 233: 229:his 1995 album 188: 187: 184: 180: 179: 175: 174: 173:Hamilton Drive 171: 170:North end 167: 166: 163: 162:South end 159: 158: 126: 122: 121: 115: 111: 110: 97: 93: 92: 89: 85: 84: 81: 77: 76: 73: 69: 68: 63: 59: 58: 55: 51: 50: 47: 46:Former name(s) 43: 42: 39: 31: 30: 15: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 1389: 1378: 1375: 1373: 1370: 1368: 1365: 1364: 1362: 1347: 1344: 1341: 1339: 1336: 1334: 1331: 1329: 1326: 1324: 1321: 1320: 1318: 1314: 1309: 1299: 1296: 1294: 1291: 1289: 1286: 1284: 1281: 1279: 1276: 1274: 1271: 1269: 1266: 1264: 1261: 1259: 1256: 1254: 1251: 1250: 1248: 1244: 1240: 1234: 1225: 1220: 1218: 1213: 1211: 1206: 1205: 1202: 1195: 1190: 1186: 1185: 1172:September 19, 1168: 1166:9781439102442 1162: 1158: 1154: 1149: 1148: 1142: 1141:Reichs, Kathy 1138: 1137: 1118: 1112: 1104: 1098: 1082: 1080: 1075: 1068: 1052: 1046: 1039: 1034: 1023:September 20, 1019: 1015: 1011: 1010: 1005: 1001: 1000:Reichs, Kathy 995: 988: 984: 979: 968:September 19, 963: 962: 957: 951: 940:September 19, 936:. 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Retrieved 606:Bloor Street 600: 587: 574: 529: 522: 515: 471: 469: 457: 447: 444:Kathy Reichs 434: 398: 390:midnight sun 383: 380:Tom Cochrane 378:lead singer 373: 361: 354: 335: 327:Saskatchewan 315:World War II 308: 283:Kathy Reichs 276: 254: 246: 238: 225:Tom Cochrane 221: 192: 191: 1316:Other roads 1087:November 7, 1057:November 5, 1038:Reichs 2013 985:, pp.  983:Reichs 2013 835:, pp.  833:Reichs 2013 805:November 7, 712:Google Maps 707:ACME Mapper 495:summer camp 357:Quonset hut 346:prospecting 295:postal code 217:prospecting 201:Yellowknife 195:is a short 186:Unique name 165:Brock Drive 149: / 137:114°21′09″W 125:Coordinates 114:Postal code 100:Yellowknife 1361:Categories 1323:Canol Road 1123:2016-09-18 1079:Asia Times 1014:Ira Flatow 624:References 506:downspouts 364:stole them 333:along it. 291:grid-based 269:wood frame 134:62°27′38″N 49:Privy Road 1097:cite news 422:Instagram 409:Vancouver 376:Red Rider 331:outhouses 311:gold rush 265:developed 213:outhouses 183:Known for 91:3902–3920 88:Addresses 66:Dirt road 1246:Highways 1143:(2013). 819:Per the 687:March 8, 535:See also 488:colonial 338:firewood 96:Location 54:Namesake 1235:in the 837:168–170 614:Ontario 610:Toronto 499:stained 476:bracken 413:WestJet 305:History 257:bedrock 250:unpaved 197:unpaved 1163:  1159:–170. 1081:Online 888:  492:hippie 368:welded 319:barges 235:Street 227:named 209:Canada 108:Canada 80:Length 566:Notes 502:frame 449:Bones 301:2T4. 267:with 178:Other 1174:2015 1161:ISBN 1103:link 1089:2015 1059:2015 1025:2015 970:2015 942:2015 920:2015 886:ISBN 867:2015 807:2015 781:2015 754:2015 720:2015 689:2015 648:2015 497:. 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Index



Dirt road
Yellowknife
NT
Canada
X1A
62°27′38″N 114°21′09″W / 62.46063°N 114.35256°W / 62.46063; -114.35256
unpaved
Yellowknife
Northwest Territories
Canada
outhouses
prospecting
Tom Cochrane
his 1995 album
Great Slave Lake
unpaved
bedrock
lots
developed
wood frame
deciduous trees
Bones Are Forever
Kathy Reichs
architectural style
grid-based
postal code
X1A
gold rush

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