Pecica, Romania numbers streets instead of naming them

Pecica, a town of about 12,000 residents in Arad County, Romania, replaced traditional street names with Arabic numerals in 2002. The change followed the town’s unification in 1964 and its elevation to city status in 2004, aiming to simplify addresses and avoid disputes over naming.

The numbered‑street system mirrors the grid used in Manhattan, New York, where street numbering began in 1881. Similar pragmatic approaches have been adopted elsewhere in Romania, such as the commune of Gostinu in Giurgiu County, which also uses numbered streets, and the city of Sulina in Tulcea County, which combines numbered and traditional names.

Pecica’s streets are now identified simply as “Strada 1”, “Strada 2”, and so on, providing a uniform address format for residents and municipal services.