It's not even remotely drastic as that. It's a street addressing system. This whole situation seems like a proxy war for something else.

Why do you find it hard to believe that people could become attached to and invested in their town's unusual street numbering system?

People become deeply attached to all kinds of arbitrary things, e.g. the particular shade of red used by their favorite sports team, or the exact shape of the cookies their family has baked for Christmas every year.

I agree that it's not remotely as drastic as telling the French they have to speak English, but it seems fairly comparable to telling programmers they have to wear dress shirts.

> Like if you told the French they should all start speaking english to better interact with the international business community, or if you told programmers they should start wearing dress shirts so they look like professionals.

Both of those are also true btw.

They may be, but is it worth it or necessary?

For the French, I don't know, but you could argue that it would improve the French economy I suppose.

However, for programmers, I don't see the benefit: programmers do not have any trouble these days finding jobs, and in fact are in high demand regardless of how they dress. Dressing more "professionally" doesn't seem like it would actually help them any, so why bother?

I guess those people could continue to use their old addressing scheme, however sooner or later their mail may no longer be delivered to them.