For 109 years, Carmel residents described where they lived by direction, such as a house on a particular street between two avenues, and many homes carried names. Opponents of change said that, like the lack of streetlights and residential sidewalks, the practice preserved village character, and some feared that numbers would lead to home mail delivery and the end of the post office.
That is now changing. The city council voted in July 2024 to establish street addresses for the first time, and a draft address map was released in January 2026. The U.S. Postal Service has said the local post office would not close. Residents keep their P.O. boxes.
Because the rollout was still in progress when this entry was written, confirm the current status with the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea.