West Plains Residents Tune In To New Zip Code
Move over 90210, and make way for 99224, Spokane County’s new summer spinoff.
No, it’s not a TV show, but a zip code.
When the West Plains reached the magic number - 9,999 - it was time for officials at the Postal Service to create a new zip code for the area.
Thus, on July 1, zip code 99224 was born: 99204’s official offspring.
Ever wonder what prompts the postmaster to create a new zip code?
The secret is 10 to the fourth minus one.
With the new zip plus four digit codes, such as 99224-4545, the laws of mathematics limit the possible number of four-digit code combinations to 9,999.
In a fast-growing area like the West Plains, where three or four households share the “plusfour” digit code, an increase in the number of houses can quickly eat up the combinations, said Kevin Martin, address management specialist for Spokane’s U.S. Post Office.
If, however, you’re a city dweller, expect to keep your zip code for some time to come. Zip codes in the city usually grow at a slower rate than their more rural cousins.
That’s because “plus four” codes often encompass a city block.
So even if the population density of a block increases, the code remains the same, Martin said.
The last time Spokane County got a new zip code was 10 years ago, when 99203 spawned 99223.
And it might be some time before the county gets yet another zip code.
“Right now the high-growth area is northern Idaho,” Martin said.
The new West Plains zip code covers more square miles than any other zip code territory in Spokane County.
It extends from downtown west out to and including the airport; then southeast along Highway 195, while the north-south reaches extend from the Nine-Mile Falls area to the Cheney and Spangle areas. However, residents of the West Plains need not fret if they don’t know their new “plus four” code.
The codes are intended to aid the Postal Service’s internal automation sorting system, Martin said.
“We’re more concerned that mail is well-addressed and readable,”he said.
, DataTimes