AURORA, Ont. — In a nod to cultural superstition, a community north of Toronto is letting residents eliminate the number four from street addresses.
In Asian cultures, four sounds like the word death when spoken, so is considered unlucky.
As a result, some Asian-made products such as cellphones, PDAs and cameras don’t have the number four in their series names.
City council in Aurora, Ont., voted this week to let residents request a change in their street numbers, if there is a wide enough numbering gap.
The number 13, considered unlucky in western cultures, was eliminated years ago in Aurora’s residential street numbering system