I have been in at least one town where the city fathers had the foresight to “twist” the whole place 45 degrees with respect to the dominant compass points so that NO street in the “old” part of town runs due east/west or north/south. As a result, in this modern, automotive age, the problems you describe simply do not exist.
Welcome to Nampa, Idaho:
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=43.578277,-116.560092&spn=0.024592,0.035663&t=h&z=15&om=1
I’ve been through Nampa! Igor had an old navy buddy who lived there, so when we left Puget Sound for St. Louis, we stopped and visited. (I have cousins all across southern Idaho, and even lived for a bit in Burley, when I was a short person.)
I would rather drive in Nampa than in Virginia. The little towns there are more like rabbit warrens. I got lost SO many times, because I was used to the well-laid-out streets of the West.
I literally had to draw myself maps in VA before I could go anywhere.