Other Weirdness, from NoVa

Living the tony NoVa neighborhood of Rosemead (heh--that's North of Valley--I'm trying to coin a phrase, but I doubt it will ever catch on), I walk along San Gabriel's segment of Valley Blvd (between Del Mar and the Rubio Wash) 5 or 10 times each week.  Over the years, I have noticed that the walls of the buildings along Valley are not parallel to the street curb.

All (or nearly all) of the buildings are offset about five or ten degrees.

This makes me wonder if maybe the street runs true east-west, while the buildings are perhaps oriented to magnetic north.  Like maybe the parcels were laid out in the "olden days," using a compass, while the road was built using more modern or more accurate surveying devices.  Or is it that the street grid was laid down slightly west of true north, and it's the property lines that are correctly oriented?

Anyway, the next time you're walking along the sidewalk there, check and see if you don't notice that most of the buildings are a little crooked in relation to the sidewalk.