Urban Land-Nav

When most hear “Land-Nav”, they think of woods, hills, and rivers.  And while this is true, there is a second form of land navigation.  That being navigation through an urban landscape.
 
Similar to rural maps that display the topography of a region, city maps provide the same resources.  Instead of a river, you have “Main Street”.  Instead of a major terrain feature like a hill, you have a prominent skyscraper.  And like rural maps, you can plot a route from Point A to Point B by examining what “features” you may want to avoid or navigate near.
 
I should also note that learning and memorizing a city’s layout is not as daunting of a task as it may sound.  Prior to ride share apps, taxi drivers memorized the numbered street system that every city is built on.  Blocks and streets are labeled not only by name, but also by number.  They could find your home from the other side of the city by knowing where the names/numbers intersected.  Once you memorize the major streets by their numbers, it acts exactly like a grid square.
 
Since every city has their own variations of what constitutes a block, in regard to the number of addresses, and how the grid is laid out, I would recommend searching “grid layout of YOUR CITY by street number” to iron out those details. And after that, purchase a physical, fold-up, pocket sized map of your city.
 
This skill takes time to get down, but is relatively easy when the effort is put in.  As you drive or walk around your city, take note of the numbers that are assigned to streets at intersections.  Like a tourist, look at your map to memorize the numbers, no one will take notice of this and you will be practicing a study of your area. Like learning a foreign language, it will eventually click. #FindYourHill