LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Tucked into a neighborhood in Henderson, Nevada, sits an area of dirt lots awaiting construction. Part of the city’s Cadence master-planning community, a portion of the area has already been developed, with homeowners fully moved in.
The air is still filled with the hum of construction equipment. But street signs posted at various intersections throughout the site indicate a quaint neighborhood-in-the-making — and one that appears to be a bit fantastical, as well.
Serenity Place, the newest project by Harmony Homes, includes an area with rather unique street names: They’re all inspired by Pokémon.
You read that correctly. Not too far in the future, Nevada homeowners will be living on a street named for one of The Pokémon Company’s creatures.
As the Las Vegas valley has continued to expand, seeing new developments pop up has become routine for residents. Neighborhoods are continuing to grow, and as they do, more and more streets need naming.
“It’s really, really hard to name streets in this town,” Andrea Miller, a construction manager at Harmony Homes LLC, explained.
She’s the one who named all of the streets that can be found in Serenity Place. Her inspiration? Well, it came from within her own home.
“My boys, a 14-year-old and an 11-year-old, are obsessed with Pokémon. That’s where I got the idea from.”
All the street names that Miller picked were her sons’ favorite Pokémon creatures.
“Jigglypuff is for sure their favorite,” she said.
Jigglypuff Place is the main road that runs through Serenity Place, partially because it’s the family favorite in the Miller household, but also because Andrea said it was a name that could make residents happy.
“When I hear Jigglypuff, I giggle,” Miller said. “When you’re coming home from work and you had a bad day and you have to turn on Jigglypuff Lane, that will make you smile.”
Along with Jigglypuff Place, Serenity Place will be home to Squirtle, Snorlax, Charmander, and Charizard lanes, named after some of the most beloved creatures from the 1998 video-game-turned-entertainment-juggernaut.
“Little kids and die-hard Pokémon people, they love it,” Miller said.
So how does the naming process happen?
Believe it or not, the whole process takes quite a long time. The construction of the homes on Jigglypuff Place began six months ago, around a year after it was named for the magical little creature.
As Miller said, it’s hard to name streets, especially in the Las Vegas valley.
When choosing street names for a community, it must first be determined how many total streets are planned. Once that number is confirmed, Miller said she needed to pick twice as many names as there are streets, to submit them to the jurisdiction.
“If there are 10 streets, you would submit 20 street names,” Miller explained. “They come back to you with which ones you can use, which ones have already been used, which ones sound too similar to another street name, and then you just keep on going.”
Miller said that sometimes the process can take two or three rounds if you’re choosing what she referred to as “common” street names. That’s why Harmony Homes tried to pick names that stand out — like those that are named for Pokémon creatures.
In fact, Pokémon isn’t the only thing that Miller and Harmony Homes have drawn inspiration from. A North Las Vegas neighborhood has street names that may seem familiar to parents of young children and “Paw Patrol” fans.
“My kids were also obsessed with that at the time,” said Miller on why a neighborhood called Blue Ridge has street names such as “Chase Street,” “Rubble Avenue,” and “Yumi Court.”
Another community that Harmony Homes has developed is called Avery Place, where the street names are all peppers. Pickled Pepper Place is the main street of the neighborhood, whose name itself was inspired by Avery Island, best known as the home of Tabasco sauce.
Harmony Homes aren’t done yet. Miller said an upcoming project in North Las Vegas called Grandview will feature names that will have fans of “Yellowstone” excited.
More information on Serenity Place, including available homes, can be found at the Harmony Homes website.
