"Uptown West Apartments"

Make that,
"Uptown Very West"

"Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades."

I'd actually add a third category to the above: real estate developments.

So, once upon a time when I lived in Manhattan, I rented an apartment at One Columbus Place, that was neither "One" nor on Columbus Circle, its putative namesake.

In fact, One Columbus Place and its next-door sibling, Two Columbus Place, were both about two blocks -- and one very major Manhattan avenue -- to the west.

Stretching the Envelope?

To that genre, now add "Uptown West Apartments," located in St. Louis Park just east of Highway 100 and north of Highway 25 (Highway 7 to us old-timers).

The new signs in front loudly announce the complex's new name, along with the fact that it's under new management (the latter explains the former).

So, is the name merely "stretching the envelope" -- or tearing it?

Put it this way: if you're at least contiguous to the area you're claiming proximity to -- think, West Virginia and Virgina -- you're stretching the envelope.

However, when you're almost three whole neighborhoods away (in this case, Sunset Gables, Fern Hill and practically all of St. Louis Park's Triangle neighborhood) . . . I'd argue you that you're tearing it.