Mel Cooke, Gleaner Writer

An address does not simply indicate the place at which a person resides. It also indicates, for better or worse, that person's social standing and, consequently, how he or she sees himself or herself, and often how that person is treated.

It is not surprising, then, that many a community has been bestowed with a name which aspires to elevate it in social standing, the new names often verging on the grandiose and even faintly incongruous.

Two of the more striking are along Spanish Town Road, St Andrew, where 'Callaloo Bed' became 'Callaloo Mews', and part of Riverton City was transformed into 'Riverton Meadows', developments coming through Operation PRIDE. The attempt at not only distinguishing the new developments from their far-less-than-upscale past, but also elevating them in the minds of residents and non-residents alike is clear.

Still, they are not the only housing developments in gritty, urban communities which have had names loftier than their current circumstances given to them, indicating previous efforts at a similar mental rebranding. Many would forget that 'Back To', the community on the seaward side of Portia Simpson Miller Square at Three Miles, St Andrew, is actually Majesty Gardens.

Hopeful name

'Gardens' is an especially hopeful name for these concrete-heavy communities, often structured on and around the high-rise building model. Tivoli Gardens and Arnett Gardens are mostly simply known by their first names, while the pronunciation 'Gyaden' signifies one community in Jamaica: Tivoli. Deejay Alozade summed up the perception of the area best when he deejayed: "Mek mi tell yu bout Gyaden/ Dung deh no expek no flowas/ Crazy shoot-out wid five-o fi howas."

Wilton Gardens has been largely forgotten totally as a name, the community simply known as 'Rema'.

Still, names aimed at lifting perceptions are not restricted to lower-income communities, as newer housing develop-ments in middle-income communities tend to have 'Estate', 'Palms' and 'Court', among other such names, attached.

This is especially evident in Portmore, St Catherine, which is becoming more and more densely populated as the Corporate Area's housing solutions expand westward on to former sugar-cane-growing lands. So Caribbean Estate, the huge gated community on the Bernard Lodge Road, speaks its status in its name, while the Portmore Country Club, its entrance across the road from the famed '100 Man' Police Station, is nowhere in what could be considered a rural area.

Mental positioning

Add to those, earlier developments, such as Magil Palms, and more recent middle-income housing solutions, such as Morris Meadows.

They are not the only places with names that do not fit their physical location, though it may be appropriate to their mental positioning. Mona Heights, St Andrew, is nowhere near to being on a hill, although Hope Road does slope downwards from Papine towards Liguanea, while Tower Hill on the lower side of St Andrew is in a similarly flat position.

One particular, informal renaming, which may have escaped public attention in its intention, although the resultant name has become impossible to ignore. After Shebada's televised exploits ("Me deh pon de borderline!"), Borderline in St Catherine was promptly renamed 'Gaza' by 'concerned citizens'.

And there is another Portmore community which has been somehow renamed. Naggo Head is really Rosemary Castle. Legend has it that a man named Naggo was beheaded there.

Still, at one comedy event held in the Sunshine City, comedian Elva reminded those seeking social elevation that estate or no estate, "Portmore is Portmore!"