dwtamkin@chinet.chi.il.us (David W. Tamkin) (07/25/89)
(Original Title: Centel in Unincorporated Norwood Park Township) Now this is interesting. Remember how I explained that unincorporated Norwood Park Township is part 867 prefixes (sections 1 and 12), part 457 prefixes (section 11), but a mix of older Park Ridge prefixes (692, 698, 823, and 825) and Chicago prefixes (380, 399, 693, and 714) in section 2? It's going to be getting funnier: IBT is shoving 457 and 867 into area code 708, but Centel is sticking with its ca. 1976 decision to treat its piece as part of Chicago and will continue assigning Chicago prefixes to new service there (unless people want to pay $19.38 a month plus tax for the F/X fee to have a suburban prefix [no mileage charge, of course]). That will get very interesting if Dino Fenili and friends ever succeed in incorporating that area as an independent village: he's been trying to get Springfield to lower the population requirement for incorporating from 2500 to 1000 just so that they can. Beats me what the heck they're going to use for a tax base considering that the only non-residential parcel there is a church and that the alleged motivation for incorporating is to protect themselves from getting annexed to Chicago and suffering from Chicago's high real estate taxes. If they ever do incorporate, the village will have two zip codes and two area codes. I guess it would have been saner if they had managed to stake a claim to a few lots around the 8200 block of Berwyn Avenue and prevent them from being annexed to Chicago in the first place; then the whole piece could have been annexed by Norridge. Of course, if it had legally been in Norridge, Centel would have continued to assign suburban prefixes in its part and it would be going into 708 this autumn. My honest opinion is that most of the people there would rather have their seven-digit dialing to and from 312 and their eleven-digit dialing to and from 708 than vice versa. I'm truly surprised that none of the closer-in suburbs have been bitching to stay in 312 (especially those where prefix area boundaries match municipal ones, like Evanston and Oak Park and Harwood Heights) the way Sharon and Marblehead, Massachusetts, got the 617/508 line redrawn. (Responding to the reply on the question, 'Will 708 be the first area code to be in separate, disconnected parts.) | But I remembered that Liberty Island and Ellis Island are | politically part of the borough of Manhattan and the County | of New York, even though they are on the far side of Staten | Island from Manhattan Island itself. | | No they aren't; they're off the southern tip of Manhattan. Then the phones on those islands could be in area code 212 without any discontiguity, and 708 *will* be the first scattered area code. -- Absolutely no other users of Chinet share any opinions I hold on any subject. David W. Tamkin P. O. Box 567542 Harwood Heights, Illinois 60656-7542 dwtamkin@chinet.chi.il.us BIX: dattier CIS: 73720,1570 GEnie: D.W.TAMKIN The post office box in Harwood Heights will be open until September 30, 1989.