Depending on who you ask, Carmel-by-the-Sea’s lack of home addresses is either highly inconvenient or charming. Some might say it’s a little of both.
For over 100 years, the only place with an address in Carmel has been the post office. It’s become a watering hole for residents of the one-square-mile town, who have to visit every time they need to retrieve mail.
But an obligatory trip to the Post Office isn’t the only drawback when you’re incognito. Some residents say they’ve had trouble getting bank accounts or utilities installed.
“Not everyone has two or three hours to sit on the phone just to explain our geographic address and a little bit of our history to the other person on the line,” Emily Garay, an administrative analyst for the city, explained to KAZU.
Carmel has enlisted Garay to come up with a solution to residents’ frustration without giving up the tradition of post office mail deliveries. She’s trying to get the post office to go along with a plan that would separate addresses from home mail delivery. In the meantime, the city is trying to develop a system that would make houses easier to find.
The simplest solution would be to adopt addresses and accept visits from the mailman as a way of life. But old habits die hard in Carmel. That’s part of the charm.