In climatology we use wind roses to show the distribution of winds from different directions over time. Here is an interesting article which uses the same technique to describe the orientation of streets in different cities around the world. I grew up in the flat Midwest where most streets were on a regular grid, but here in the hillier South, street orientation is more variable, and that shows up in polar maps like these. Older cities are often more variable too. You can read more about these cool maps at CityLab here.
