Editing Address (section)

=== House numbering or naming ===
{{Main|House numbering}}
In most English-speaking countries, the usual method of house numbering is an alternating numbering scheme progressing in each direction along a street, with odd numbers on one side (often west or south or the left-hand side leading away from a main road) and even numbers on the other side, although there is significant variation on this basic pattern. Many older towns and cities in the UK have "up and down" numbering where the numbers progress sequentially along one side of the road, and then sequentially back down the other side. Cities in [[North America]], particularly those planned on a [[grid plan]], often incorporate [[city block|block]] numbers, quadrants (explained below), and [[cardinal directions]] into their street numbers, so that in many such cities, addresses roughly follow a [[Cartesian coordinate system]].<ref name="mocoplanning">[http://www.montgomeryplanningboard.org/agenda/2013/documents/AddressingandStreetNamingGuidelinesrevised_000.pdf Addressing and Street Naming Guidelines and Procedures] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210810234739/http://www.montgomeryplanningboard.org/agenda/2013/documents/AddressingandStreetNamingGuidelinesrevised_000.pdf |date=10 August 2021 }}, from the [[Montgomery County, Maryland|Montgomery County]] (Md.) Planning Department and the [[Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission]]</ref> Some other cities around the world have their own schemes.

Although house numbering is the principal identification scheme in many parts of the world, it is also common for houses in the United Kingdom and [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]] to be identified by name, rather than number, especially in villages. In these cases, the street name will usually follow the house name. Such an address might read: "Smith Cottage, Frog Lane, Barchester, Barsetshire, BZ9 9BA" or "Dunroamin, Emo, Co. Laois, Ireland" (fictional examples).