Today (April 5, 2022) the Vermont Senate joined the Vermont House in voting unanimously to accept the Independence of Essex Junction. The governor's spokesperson has said that he would sign the bill.

Both the impending City of Essex Junction and the Town of Essex share the zip code 05452. I've seen some people ask online: "who gets the zip code?"

Here's the thing: municipalities are not zip codes. And zip codes are not municipalities. Just here in Vermont that's clear: Burlington has 5 zip codes (05401, 05402, 05405, 05406, 05408). Whereas 05448 covers East Fairfield, Bakersfield, and Fletcher.

Heck, even 05452 stretches into Westford!

Let me tell a story on why I think a town-after-separation zip code is unlikely.

When I got out of college, I moved to Sleepy Hollow, NY. Just before I moved there, activists had just gotten a successful vote to change the name of North Tarrytown to Sleepy Hollow. I often wonder if I was the first person with Sleepy Hollow NY on my driver's license.

Tarrytown, pre-1996 North Tarrytown, and post-1996 Sleepy Hollow all share a zip code: 10591. Because all zip codes have a default city name, mailing software would often change your city back to Tarrytown, even if you entered Sleepy Hollow. That happened before the name change, too. However, a change from N Tarrytown to Tarrytown wasn't as annoying as changing from Sleepy Hollow to Tarrytown, especially to the activists who worked so hard.

So, the activists petitioned the US Post Office. After all, the Post Office controls zip codes. The USPS said no. Too disruptive.

Point is: it seems unlikely we'd get a new zip code. Would it be convenient? Sure. Is it likely? No.