We the residents and owners in the Dixieland Historic District are requesting the United States Postal Service (USPS) change our delivery route from the current “mixed delivery” as defined by Post Office Manual (POM) 631.7 to door delivery mode, often referred to as a park and loop route. 

While we recognize centralized delivery is the preferred mode of delivery for new delivery points, our nationally registered historic district is anything but new, having been platted in 1908 and seeing a development boom in the 1920s. In the 1920s the original delivery method would have been door delivery. In more recent times, some owners have been convinced t change to curb delivery, which eventually prompted USPS to make the route an entirely truck delivery route instead of walking. Many homes continued to keep their mailboxes at or near their front door, creating a mixed delivery route. It appears Dixieland was targeted for this mode of delivery conversion while the neighborhood was in a socioeconomic decline several decades ago. Today, Dixieland residents are proud of their neighborhood and what to see the wrong undone and our mode of delivery reverted to door delivery. 

Per POM 631.24, the district manager has the ability to grant approval for door delivery service at any address if it can be safely, efficiently, and conveniently be served by the carrier. That is definitely the case with our neighborhood where front doors are typically only about 20 feet from the curb and sidewalks line most of the streets. There are very few hills and houses are spaced close together. While it is understandable that reverting this route to a park and loop route, will be less efficient than the current mixed delivery, it is clear that efficiency is not the only factor in this scenario. 

The Lake Hollingsworth residents have strictly park and loop routes, where even newly established delivery points at new construction have their mail delivered to the door. There are a number of other neighborhoods in Lakeland which enjoy a much greater level of service through a walking route. The affluent neighborhoods to the east and south of Lake Hollingsworth, which were mostly developed after Dixieland, are entirely walking routes. Lake Hollingsworth is not an historic district and is further from the city center than Dixieland. The Camphor Heights neighborhood which was developed mostly post WWII is an entirely walking route, again located further from the city center than Dixieland. The Beacon Hill Historic District which is much further south from Downtown is also an entirely walking route to this day. The Beacon Hill neighborhood has always been upper middle class, having boasted mayors and state legislators over the years. South and East Lake Morton have had the college, the library, the art museum and two lakes to set it apart from Dixieland, and unsurprisingly they are an entirely walking route as well. Clearly efficiency is not the issue, the issue is one of class discrimination. It is time the USPS addresses this clear injustice that has been done. We deserve the same level of service as our neighbors around Lake Hollingsworth.

Our historic district is the only historic district in Lakeland where homes were predominately built before WWII that does not have door delivery service. Please grant our request to establish a park and loop delivery route.