source: https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/15uz539/city_street_network_orientation/
From the post:
Urban spatial order: street network orientation, configuration, and entropy
By: Geoff Boeing
This study examines street network orientation, configuration, and entropy in 100 cities around the world using OpenStreetMap data and OSMnx.
See full paper: https://appliednetsci.springeropen.com/articles/10.1007/s41109-019-0189-1
The only major parts of Seattle that are not NS/EW are downtown and Belltown. Crackheads Denny and Boren each wanted their plots of land to have roads following different parts of the bay. Maynard called them a bunch of dumbasses and used true cardinal directions for roads.