Driving/Walking Directions – What Does “Blocks” mean?

Example....

Me: "Excuse me, yes hi ma'am. I'm new here, do you know of any near-by McDonald's around here?"

Lady: "all you have to do is pass the next set of lights ahead, turn left. Should be about 5 to 10 blocks down the road"

To reiterate and restate my question. I'm basically asking, how would I know how many "blocks" to follow? are the blocks literally the blocks of a sidewalk? or just a way of trying to sound smart while giving directions?

Sorry for this dumb question guys. I'm just new to this matrix called life. So I wanna know beforehand and not look stupid, you know?.

3 Answers

  • As you drive / walk down a city / town / suburb street, it's the distance from one " Cross street " to the next " Cross street " From corner to corner. The distance between 1st street to 2nd street, and so on. In a rural area, you most likely will not be able to use that Definition.

    What can get confusing, is that " Blocks " are longer in one direction. They are usually rectangular, NOT square. But, the definition STILL applies. It's still one corner to the next.

    It's not really a precise measurement. But it will usually get you where you want to go.

  • A block is between two streets, it's the area between two city streets, the area between 5st & 6st would be a block.

  • Yes, that's a good point

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