I ran across this map somewhere in the last week or so, showing UK postal code blocks (by the first couple of letters). Very cool.
That got me looking for maps about US postal codes, or ZIP codes (“ZIP” standing for Zone Improvement Plan, a program put into place in the early 60s by the US Post Office to get out of mailing by city name or city zones). Here are some fun links of that sort:
- National map of ZIP code zones.
- Google Map a ZIP code or 3-digit ZIP code zones.
- Drill down to the given post office on a US map as you type each digit.
- A colorful ZIPScribble map.
Interestingly, in the Wikipedia entry for ZIP codes, we get this:
An address’s ZIP code and the “city” name written on the same line do not necessarily mean that that address is within that city. The Postal Service designates a single “default” place name for each ZIP code. This may be an actual incorporated town or city, a subentity of a town or city or an unincorporated census-designated place. Additional place names, also of any of these types, may be recognized as “acceptable” for a certain ZIP code. Still others are deemed “not acceptable”, and if used may result in a delay in mail delivery.
Default place names are typically the actual city or town that the address is located in. However, for many cities that have incorporated since ZIP codes were introduced the actual city name is only “acceptable” and not the “default” place name. Many databases automatically assign the “default” place name for a ZIP code, without regard to any “acceptable” place names. For example, Centennial, Colorado is divided among seven ZIP codes assigned to “Aurora“, “Englewood” or “Littleton” as its “default” place names. Thus, from the perspective of the U.S. Postal Service, the city of Centennial and its 100,000 residents do not exist – they are part of Aurora, Englewood or Littleton. In the ZIP-code directory, Centennial addresses are listed under those three cities. And since it is “acceptable” to write “Centennial” in conjunction with any of the seven ZIP codes, one can write “Centennial” in an address that is actually in Aurora, Englewood, or Littleton, as long as it is in one of the shared ZIP Codes.
“Acceptable” place names are often added to a ZIP code in cases where the ZIP-code boundaries divide them between two or more cities, as in the case of Centennial. However, in many cases only the “default” name can be used, even when many addresses in the ZIP code are in another city.
[…] This phenomenon is repeated across the country. The previously mentioned Englewood is a land-locked, inner-ring suburb that was built out by the 1960s. Its post office served the area that is now the high-growth southern tier of the Denver metropolitan area, and ZIP codes in this area were assigned “Englewood” as their “default” place name. An employment center as large as downtown Denver has grown in this area, and its office parks are the headquarters for many internationally recognized corporations. Even though they are actually located in other cities, they indicate “Englewood” as their location, as this is the “default” postal place name. As a result, there are really two “Englewoods” — the actual city, small and with a largely working-class residential population, and, a number of miles away, the postal “Englewood,” a vast suburban area of upscale subdivisions and office parks that have nothing to do with the City of Englewood yet share a split identity with it solely because of ZIP codes. People who say that they live or work in “Englewood” and identify closely with it may rarely enter the actual city of that name.
Which is why we occasionally have mail-order/Internet shopping grief when we indicate we live in Centennial (or our credit card bills to there) and some dumb computer says, “THAT ZIP CODE BELONGS TO ENGLEWOOD — DOES NOT COMPUTE — LIKELY TERRORIST …” and turns down the transaction.
You can find out more about the zany postal codes of our Neighbor to the North here (imagine — using alphanumerics!) The even crazier (and copyrighted!) postal codes of the UK are described here. Other national postal code schemes are described here.