East Coast vs. West Coast

It's good to be back in the DC, and not just for the humidity. It's good to be back to politics.  But before I get into that...

While standup comedians have long discussed the differenced between "LA and New York," the most disturbing difference I've noticed between the east and west coast (not to sound all Tupac on you), is that Californians insist on putting the word "the" in front of highway names.

For example, Californians don't take 405, they take the 405. This seems to attribute some sort of prestige to their highways, and seems to make them slightly more glamorous. My question is where does this end?

I've only heard this in California. Do any other states bestow this title on their highways? Are there some states, say Nevada, where it can go either way (sort of like, is the band called "Lemonheads," or "The Lemonheads"? In any event, I'll stick to taking 495, and I'll leave off the "the". (I'm sort of on a first name basis with our highways. No titles needed).

Oh yeah, another wierd thing I noticed.  Their radio stations have names like Sophie.  This is a trend which, I hope, will not follow me home...