The California Public Utilities Commission will hold community meetings next week on a proposal to begin using the 213 area code in areas such as West Hollywood currently served by the 323 area code, which is running out of phone numbers.
According to the commission, the 323 area code is on pace to run out of numbers by March 2018. The CPUC hopes to begin using the 213 area code in the area by November 2017.
According to the commission, the 323 area code serves a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, along with the cities of Alhambra, Bell, Bell Gardens, Beverly Hills, Commerce, Cudahy, Glendale, Hawthorne, Huntington Park, Inglewood, Lynwood, Maywood, Montebello, Monterey Park, Pasadena, Rosemead, South Gate, South Pasadena, Vernon and West Hollywood. West Hollywood also is served by the 310 area code. The 213 area code primarily covers the downtown Los Angeles area.
The CPUC will hold public meetings on the proposal at:
— 10 a.m. Sept. 8 at the South Gate City Council Chamber, 8650
California Ave.;
— 2 p.m. Sept. 8 and 10 a.m. Sept. 9 at Junipero Serra State Building,
Carmel Room, 320 W. Fourth St., Los Angeles;
— 2 p.m. Sept. 9 at the South Pasadena City Council Chamber, 1414
Mission St.;
— 7 p.m. Sept. 9 at the South Pasadena Public Library, 1115 El Centro
St.; and
— 2 p.m. Sept. 10 at the Memorial Branch Library, 4625 W. Olympic
Blvd., Los Angeles.
Public comments also can be submitted by mail or online or by email to public.advisor@cpuc.ca.gov.
Will CPUC hold public meetings in 2024 also?
Do area codes really matter as much now as they used to. With everyone having cell service, there are tons of new area codes and may have nothing to do with where you live (since once you get your number you can port it to any new service anywhere …. I think … I just know that I grew up in la. LA 213 “the valley” 818 and OC 714 Oh the no so good old days with one rotary line per home. I prefer the ability to have mobile phone service for virtually everyone (despite my own self hating… Read more »
I believe they started utilizing more numbers within area codes in the early 2000s therefore freeing up more #’s within the already small 213 area code. Which explains why 213 was full in the early 80s and now has space
Geographic boundaries for area codes made sense when telephones “lived” in one place, forever, like a tree. But phones have gone mobile — tethered to a person instead of a place. So why not simply make the entire pool of numbers in a city or region available to everyone, regardless of “area”? In other words, just extend the overlay.
Yeah…sounds to me like the projected 213 estimates were way off and now they have a plethra of available numbers. Seems the majority of people when signing up for numbers in the LA area choose 310 or 323. Most see 213 as only downtown and a stigma attached to it.
Haha SaveWeho, I don’t of any stigma attached to 213, I just think of it as older numbers, due to having had it in the early 80’s and then having it change to 323 in Weho.
I’m old enough to remember pre 213 days and instead of prefix’s like 661- it was Normandie 1- or Madison, Webster,Richmond and of course Hollywood.
Maybe Weho could have 3 area codes:
310–Westside
323–Midtown
213-Eastside.
I suspect that because of the ridiculous georgraphic boundaries that were drawn for 213, clearly it never used up the amount of possibilities. It was limited to downtown LA proper. I would imagine with the advent of cell phones being used more commonly, and 213 not being an option, this actually makes sense to me. The irony however is not lost on me either. When I was a kid in LA in the 60’s and 70’s everything was only 213…
When I moved to WeHo in 1978, as I recall, almost all communities were 213. Therefore, I find it very amusing and confusing that the PUC is now contemplating using an overlay (I’d assume) for 323. AND I thought 323 and 310 were created because 213 was running out of numbers.
So odd, my number was 213 when I moved to Weho in 83′, and they changed it to 323. WTH?
Trust me – this is an incredibly sensitive issue to some people. The 310 prefix comes with a cache that is desired. Expect some heated reaction.
I thought the 213 area code was running out of numbers years ago so the 323 was created.
Chris Sanger, what does this have to do with the 310 area code, they are not going to change their area code. In fact, they already created a new area code for 310, because it was over crowded, 424.