Real Estate Darwinism

If you live in Hillsborough or Foster City you have disappeared!  You no longer exist.  At least as far as the United States Postal Service is concerned.  Yup.  You no longer exist.  Poof you're gone.  Last week the USPS consolidated zip codes and eliminated any and all cities or towns that share a zip code with a second city.  The "owner" of the zip, such as Burlingame in the case of Hillsborough, or San Mateo in the case of Foster City is now the name of your community. 

This has been going on for a while and you are aware of it if you live in one of these two cities.  You order something online and put in your city and zip and the conformation comes back saying you live in another city -- Burlingame or San Mateo.  Now the post office has decided that, in fact, is the case.  You now live in the other city but you haven't moved.

Foster City is trying to get it's own zip code.  I'm not sure how far along they are but they're trying.  What I don't get with all of this is how the USPS can do this with chartered cities within the State of California.  Foster City and Hillsborough aren't the only communities affected by this on the Peninsula.  Los Altos Hills got hit, too, and there are likely hundreds of other communities across the country.

What can you do about it if you don't like it?  Perhaps letters to Congress and the Senate?  The USPS is no longer a government agency, so it appears that they can do what they want.  Public opinion helps change things.  If you care, complain.  Zip codes have a shashay in many parts of the country. A television series was named after one.  They do mean something.