What's up with Capital Region mailing addresses?

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- You may have realized that sometimes Capital Region mailing addresses don't match the actual town where a place is located. I can think of a bunch of examples already: Rotterdam has Schenectady addresses, Colonie has Albany addresses, Milton has Ballston Spa addresses, Halfmoon has Clifton Park and Mechanicville addresses, and so on.

I recently moved and the town in my mailing address no longer matches the town I actually live in. It's only mildly frustrating to me, but it's something we need to be accurate about in the news. This means instead of just taking the location in a mailing address, we need to look at maps and town lines to determine where something is actually located.

This also isn't something that's unique to the Capital Region; it happens throughout the United States. I recently began to question why addresses don't always match the actual town they are in. I reached out to the United States Postal Service (USPS) to find some answers.

In short, it's all about ZIP Codes and efficiency. In 1963, the USPS implemented the Zone Improvement Plan (ZIP) Code to more efficiently handle the increase in mail. That system was expanded in 1983 to include ZIP+ 4 digits to direct mail to a certain delivery point or mailbox.

"ZIP Code assignments are closely linked to factors such as mail volume, delivery size area, geographic location, and topography, but not necessarily to municipal or perceived community boundaries," said USPS.

That's why locations in mailing addresses are not always accurate. But could these addresses be changed to have their actual village or town name?

"Although the Postal Service must be guided primarily by concerns for service and efficiency, we appreciate the identity and addressing concerns of local communities," said USPS.

The USPS has a ZIP Code Boundary Review Process that allows municipalities to request mailing address changes to the town and/or ZIP Code. After reviewing the request, USPS could consider changing a ZIP Code (with confirmed customer support) or allow another change to the last line of the address.

"One accommodation that may be made after evaluating postal operational concerns is to allow the alternate use of more than one city name in the last line of an address, while retaining the use of the ZIP Code of the Post Office providing delivery," said USPS.

It's important to note that only municipalities and community groups can request ZIP Code boundary adjustments, not private individuals, companies or organizations. Since this process is also costly, said USPS, a specific request cannot be made more than once every 10 years.

What other places do you know of where the mailing address doesn't match the actual town a place is located? Does it bother you at all? Let me know by sending an email to srizzo@news10.com.