emptysigns The streets of Downey are suburban, almost obliged to be indistinctive, and yet driving them has begun to feel more and more … meaningful? Or maybe … inspirational? And then again, there’s always … corny?

Well, at minimum, let’s hope it’s unforgettable—because committing all the new street names to memory is a challenge. Lately, the Downey City Council has been going close to crazy with the rechristening of its roadways.

At least the latest street in the city to be named by solemn vote of its elected officials didn’t already have one. There are no businesses or residences on it, either. But this particular stretch of pavement does pass by the new Kaiser Permanente Hospital, which is why the city council decided to call it “Caring Way”—well, that and the fact that “caring” is also one of the six pillars of a motivational program called Character Counts, which both the City of Downey and its school district have adopted as sort of a code of ideals. Councilmember Mario Guerra came up with the name.

Caring Way extends north from Imperial Highway, between Bellflower Boulevard and Columbia Way. Columbia Way? Oh, you may remember it as Clark Avenue, its name for decades—until Oct. 20, 2009, when a 3-2 vote by the Downey City Council gave it a name intended to honor the seven astronauts who died on the Space Shuttle Columbia.

But back to Caring Way, which as we said heads north from Imperial Highway. It ends at Steve Horn Way, a street that the city council named after the former—and recently deceased—Congressman Steve Horn in appreciation for his help securing federal funds for Downey to purchase the huge swath of property owned by NASA.

Finally–well, so far—there’s the driveway to an executive parking lot behind Downey City Hall, which is also a route of much foot travel by students of Downey High School. Last October, the city council voted, 4-1, last October to name it “Responsibility Row.” Guerra came up with that one, too.

It was another tip o’ the street sign to the Character Counts program. Guerra reasoned that renaming the driveway “Responsibility Row” would teach students that Character Counts is practiced in and out of school.

Nice.

And who knows? That lesson may even trickle down to the council members, the city manager and the police and fire chiefs who park their cars there.