A parkway is a wide road designed to be scenic and pleasant to drive on, often lined with trees, grass, and landscaped areas. Unlike highways built purely to move traffic quickly, parkways were created to make the journey itself enjoyable. Many parkways wind through parks or natural areas, with curves that follow the landscape rather than cutting straight through it.

The word combines “park” and “way,” reflecting how these roads were originally meant to feel like driving through a park. Cities built many parkways in the early 1900s when cars were becoming popular, hoping to give drivers beautiful routes instead of just functional ones.

Here's something curious: despite the name, you typically can't park on a parkway. Many parkways actually prohibit parking and restrict commercial trucks to keep them peaceful and scenic. Meanwhile, a driveway is where you park your car! English can be wonderfully backwards sometimes.

Famous parkways include the Blue Ridge Parkway, which runs through the Appalachian Mountains, and the Bronx River Parkway in New York, often considered America's first parkway. When you see “parkway” in a road name today, it usually means the road was designed to be more attractive than an ordinary street, even if it’s now surrounded by buildings instead of trees.