We've been waiting over a year to find out, and now we know what Northeast Ohio's newest area code will be.
Starting on March 1, anyone who would have received a 440 area code when getting a new cell phone will now get a 436 area code.
For those who currently have a 440 area code, their existing phone numbers will not change.
According to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, the 440 area code is expected to run out of available numbers in the year's second half.
This will be the most significant change to local phone calls since the mandatory 10-digit dialing was enacted in 2021.
Interesting coincidence
A reporter in our newsroom noticed that 436 can be seen as an homage to 440, 330 and 216.
More than a number to dial
Area codes were a post-WWII addition to our world of communication — an application to speed up conversation that had the side benefit of uniting the population of the diverse regions of a growing nation. For years, your area code defined part of who we were and the region we represented.
As Clevelanders know, 216 was the regional code we were initially granted — and those are still our defining numbers, present on shirts, slogans and billboards.
Each time we get a new one, like 440, it's not the same as the original. Will that be the case with 436? Will it go the way of 440? Or will it be embraced like another new area code has been with 330?
"As we look at this need for a new area code, what it really says is there is a greater demand in the area, which is really good news for Cleveland," said Jeff Kew, Verizon spokesperson.
The new number assignments at a Verizon store are business as usual.
"So, for everybody with a 440-area code in the area right now, there is no major impact to them. What they need to know is the 436-area code is real and exists, and they could be getting calls from that number now," said Kew.
At Cleveland Clothing Company, area code merch is pretty popular.
"216, and we have a store in the Akron area, so 330, and we call them like the OG area codes, that's where you rep where you grow up. When we first came up with our area code merchandise, we did all of them. We did 216, 440, and 330; 440 was kind of lagging," said Cleveland Clothing Company Owner Mike Kubinski.
As for the 436 coming to shirts and stickers, "Nothing is off the table but it's pretty new, so I think we'll have some fun with it on social media and do things like that, and then if there's a product down the line we'll see what happens," said Kubinski.
The 216 really resonates with Matt Arcangelini, who grew up with a 216 number and now has a 440.
"For me, it always, you know, defined living in the city limits, that's 216. So, I always felt pride that within those city limits came the hardworking, blue-collar town to me; that is what 216 has always defined," said Arcangelini. "436 seems like a weird combination of the two. I feel like they're trying to put 440 and 216 together, and I don't know it's a different world."
His 440 number will only change if he gets a new phone, "I'm excited. I feel like there are new possibilities now. Numbers are everything, right?"
Coming up are two days to celebrate area common area codes: 216 Day in Cleveland and 330 Day in Akron.
For more information on the new area code and its impacts, click here.
