The benefits were almost immediately obvious. Street addresses boosted democracy, allowing for easier voter registration and mapping of voting districts. They strengthened security, as unaddressed territories make it easy for crime to flourish. (On a less positive note, they also make it easy to find political dissidents.) Water and electric companies had been forced to create their own systems for collecting bills and maintaining infrastructure—a street addressing system made that task far easier. Governments could more easily identify taxpayers and collect what they were owed. Researchers
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